Threat: Unknown
by MzMalfoy
Summary: This is the sequel to Malfoy:Unknown! Life after the war is going well for Draco and Hermione when strange and menacing things begin to happen. Who's behind it and what are they planning?
1. Prologue

_**A/N: This is the sequel to Malfoy: Unknown, you should probably read that before you move on to this one.**_

I was going to wait til March before I started posting, but I just got too excited.

This chapter is a short prologue, but don't fret: I'm posting a full chapter tomorrow! Also, I promise, cross my heart, that I will respond to every single review that y'all post. They mean a lot to me, so it's only fair that I have the courtesy to respond. Anyways, enjoy! I can't wait to hear/read what you think about it!

* * *

He sat in the dark, rocking on the thin mattress. He studied the photos and newspaper clippings in the dim light that came in through the miniscule window. Photos and clippings of _them_. The ones who defeated _him_. The ones who instigated the Battle of Hogwarts. Everything was their fault. Their fault. Their fault. Their fault. Their fault. The words echoed through his mind night and day like his heartbeat was actually speaking the words. Their fault. Their fault.

Potter. How had he managed to survive? People had worshiped him and many still did. But he knew better. He knew. Part of him would always be a little amazed at what Harry Potter had managed to accomplish, but the rest of him… the rest despised Harry Potter for what he'd lost. His fault.

And Hermione Granger. He trailed a fingertip down a photograph of her. Everyone knew she was the brains behind everything. So brilliant, Hermione Granger. Without her, Potter would've never made it for the final showdown at Hogwarts. Her fault.

These two and the others… lesser players, but still. Their fault.

Their fault. Their fault. Their fault. Their fault. He clasped his hands over his ears, unaware that the voice now chanting the words at an ear-splitting volume was his own.


	2. Meet Me in the Morning

A/N: The first chapter, as promised! Hermione's going to reminisce to fill us in on what we missed between the end of the last one and where this one picks up, two years later. Enjoy!

PS: I'm not sure if they use the term 'badass' in England... hopefully yes.

* * *

The early morning light playing across her face woke Hermione from very pleasant dreams. She looked sleepily out the window and remembered what day it was and grinned. She had to be at the Burrow at noon but judging from the paleness of the light she still had several hours. She settled back into Draco's warmth and smiled as his arm came around her in his sleep. She reached out to scratch Crookshanks behind his ears. Her sweet, ugly Crookshanks. He purred and rubbed his cheek against her hand. He was getting old, but being part kneazle, he had a good decade left.

Today was such a big day. They had all been through so much and today would be a fantastic reminder that it had been worth it. It had been almost two years since the final battle and life had gone on for all of them that were left. It had been smooth sailing, all things considered. There had been a few bumps in the road, the first being the retrieval of her parents. She thought with chagrin how she'd failed to think through how to bring them home. She'd just sent them off across the globe and headed out to accompany Harry and Ron. She remembered their arrival in Australia…

. . . . .

_They deposited their international portkey in the bin and signed their paperwork in the Portkey Office inside the Australian Ministry of Magic. They were thankful that no fuss had been made about who they were. There were no stares, no questions, just business as usual. They proved they were who they said they were, promised that they hadn't transported anything illegal into the country, and went on their way. It was actually very similar muggle Customs. Australia hadn't been oblivious to the magical war in England, but hadn't been involved and didn't really know the key players._

_"Well that was strange. No one had anything to say about the Malfoy heir and Potter's princess traveling together. I practically had to smuggle you out of Europe and they don't blink an eye here. .." He spoke as he guided her through the busy lobby._

_"Makes a nice change, doesn't it?" He made a sound of agreement as he looked over the heads of the people milling about to locate the exit. They stepped out into the afternoon sun and stalled on the sidewalk._

_He looked down at her and readjusted the strap of his messenger bag which was packed with all of their luggage. "Where to, Granger?"_

_She shaded her eyes and looked each way down the street. "Well… here's the thing…." She began but trailed off._

_"I'm not sure I like the sound of that." He rolled his eyes._

_"I was in such a hurry to get them away that I don't know where they ended up settling exactly. I just had them come to Sydney." She looked up sheepishly at him and shrugged. "It's not like I had time to find a house for them or anything. I was just trying to keep them from getting killed."_

_He, too, looked each way up and down the street and then steered them toward a large hotel. "I suppose you were a bit pressed for time. How do we find them then?"_

_"I imagine we can look them up through their office. I erm, suggested they open up a practice here so they should have done." She eyed the looming high-rise nervously. "I'm really sorry that you've to pay for this. I know we talked about it already, but I really will pay you back once my parents get home and they access their accounts." She'd drained her own account preparing to go on the run with Harry and Ron._

_"Do I really have to point out, again, that I'm the heir to the largest estate in England? Besides that, I have quite a lot of my own." He had said in an effort to stop her continued fretting about how to finance their trip._

_"Yes, but it isn't fair… I feel like I'm taking advantage of you here." She mumbled to her feet. He pulled her to a stop and forced her to look up at him._

_"Hermione. Have we or have we not already talked about getting married someday?"_

_"We have..."_

_"Do you think we're going to have fully separate finances when that happens? Are you going to insist we split everything exactly evenly?" He waited while she gave him a grudging smile and shook her head. "Right. So does it matter whose money we spend now? Other than the fact that you don't have any at the moment?"_

_"No, I suppose it doesn't. Thank you." She did hate being dependent on him, but it wasn't like he couldn't afford it. He checked them into a suite with an ease that surprised her. She knew he was well-traveled and supposed that checking into a hotel was pretty similar whether magical or muggle. Plus neither of them was familiar with the currency here so it was a level playing field. They were given a room on the top floor that overlooked the harbor and the Opera House. They got to work on settling in: she hung up their clothes and he checked out the view from the balcony off the living room._

_"Favorite color?" He shouted in from the balcony. Ever since their discussion about the brevity and intensity of their time together they'd been making an effort to learn the little things about each other, asking random questions whenever the thought crossed their minds._

_"Blue" she yelled back, "I already know yours is green!" She smiled at the memory of one of his questions opening up a two day debate. It had been a lot of fun bantering back and forth about each other's opinions._

_They'd still been in France, lying in lounge chairs on the sand when randomly turned and asked, "Who, in your opinion, is the biggest literary badass?"_

_"Ooh, good one. Hm. I…. I'm going to have to go with Aragorn. Who do you think?"_

_"Heathcliff." He said after a moment's thought. "Although, Aragorn was pretty brilliant."_

_"Heathcliff? He's not badass, he's deranged." She countered._

_"No way! He grew up all rejected then left and made all this money then came back and beat the shit out of his childhood bully!"_

_"Yeah, but he was a few feathers short of a hippogriff! He dug up Catherine's body after she died!" She insisted with some disgust. "Mr. Rochester is a much better badass than Heathcliff. He rescued his barmy wife from the third floor of a house that was on fire; he didn't dig up any bodies or imprison any young girls!"_

_"Mr. Rochester? Puh-lease. Yeah he saved her, but then he went all hermity and wouldn't talk to anyone because Jane was gone. That's the opposite of badass." He waved her suggestion away. "Now, how can you say Aragorn and not mention Gandalf? Or Elrond?"_

_They'd gone back and forth for hours on end and never did settle on anyone specific. She was still maintaining her initial opinion with Aragorn though. She was perfectly willing to admit that she did have a bit of a crush on him… and the actor who played him in the muggle films._

_It had taken her two days to track down their dental practice that they had set up on the outskirts of Sydney and they followed them home Disillusioned on Draco's broom. They watched the house for about an hour to make sure no one else was in there and Hermione had knocked nervously on the door._

_"I re-read how to reverse a memory charm this morning, blimey I hope this works." She whispered frantically as they waited on the front steps._

_"You'll be fine, love. If you don't get it right, we'll bundle 'em up and get them sorted out at home." He smirked as she shot him a glare but her response was interrupted by her father opening the door._

_"Hello, may I help you?" He asked politely and Hermione swallowed nervously. Why didn't she plan this out better? How to get him to let two strangers in the house?_

_Just as her father started to look at her with a bit of concern she heard, "Imperio" whispered from just behind her. Her father's face blanked and he stepped back for them to enter._

_"Draco!" She hissed. "The war's over! You can't go around using Unforgiveables anymore!" Despite her annoyance she stepped into the house and Draco followed her. She watched her mother enter the room and look questioningly at the three of them. Hermione fiddled with her wand in her pocket. Memory Charms were broken similar to a Fidelius charm, but instead of reading or being told an address you spoke a sentence that summarized the memories that were altered and the original memory would be restored._

_Hermione took a deep breath and said in a rushed, high voice "Your name is Jean Granger and I am your daughter, Hermione." She watched as her mother's face paled, her eyes rolled back and Hermione lunged forward to catch her as her knees gave._

_"Oh dear. I read that this could happen. She could be out for several hours." Draco helped her get her mum to the couch and she turned to her dad who was staring unconcernedly into space. She nodded to Draco and he lifted his Imperius._

_"Your name is Richard Granger and I am your daughter, Hermione." He reacted the same way as Jean. She and Draco wrestled him onto the couch beside her mum._

_"I guess it was a pretty big memory modification… I changed their whole identities. They should remember everything that's happened while they were the Wilkins though, I hope so anyway. I don't want them to have lost the whole year and a half completely."_

_She'd paced for two hours while Draco poked around the house looking curiously at all the muggle items that he came across. Eventually her parents woke up and stared blankly at her for several minutes. She made tea and after they'd sipped for a few minutes her mother seemed to come out of it._

_"Hermione Jean Granger. What did you do?" She demanded setting her tea cup down with a snap. At the sound of her voice her dad seemed to regain his senses as well._

_"Oh, mum, I'm so sorry! I erm…" She stumbled to a stop, not sure where to begin. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap._

_"Come on, Hermione. Just tell us." Mrs. Granger snapped._

_"Right. I told you about Voldemort taking over everything and all that, you remember?" Both parents nodded, their mouths grim. "And how he was trying to kill Harry?" They nodded again, her mother's face not regaining any color that it had lost when she fainted. "Well, I went on the run with Harry. He figured out how to defeat him. I had to get you out of the country because Voldemort's men would've found you and… and tortured you to find out where we were. I had to make it where you'd leave no trace. And…. And it worked." She finished lamely._

_"Hermione! You've no right to… to mess with us like that! We didn't know who we were! What if something had happened to you? We'd have never known!" Her mother rose to pace in her anger._

_"I know. That was on purpose. I just wanted you to be safe and happy!" She looked pleadingly between her mother and father._

_"Hermione," her father spoke up. "We are the parents and you are the child." His voice was calm but it was laced with anger. "You don't get to decide what's best for us. You really overstepped here young lady."_

_"You changed our names and sent us to another continent! You had no right-" Mrs. Granger started again. She continued ranting for several minutes- it couldn't be said that Hermione didn't come by her temper honestly. When she ran out of steam and raked her hands through her hair Draco spoke up._

_"If I may, Mrs. Granger?" By her furious expression she most certainly did not give permission but he continued regardless, "We know that they went to your home and tried to find you, they watched it for weeks, waiting for you to return. They searched it, looking for signs of where you'd gone. We know they looked for you at your work." He paused and they watched the words sink in. "If Hermione hadn't done this, they'd have killed you. There's no question." The Grangers were quiet for several moments._

_"Is this true, Hermione?" Mr. Granger asked._

_Hermione looked between both of her parents with tears welling in her eyes. "Yes," she whispered, barely audibly._

_"Well, who are you then?" Mrs. Granger asked Draco, not ready to let go of her anger._

_"I'm Draco Malfoy." Hermione watched both per parents stiffen and her mother looked at him accusingly._

_"Isn't he boy who's been so cruel to you?" She demanded, looking between Hermione and Draco._

. . . . .

Her parents had taken a few days to come to terms with what she'd done and with Draco being a part of her life. He'd been relegated to sleeping on the couch for the first week they were there.

She knew her mother had forgiven her when the two of them were packing boxes a few days later she turned to Hermione and whispered, "You never told me he was such a good looking boy!" The next week of packing was still a bit strained and awkward as they gradually filled her parents in on the details of the war and just how terrible it had been. After they realized what all she and Draco had been through together and the significance of what he'd done for her they conceded and allowed him to stay in her room with her and Mrs. Granger stopped glaring at him. Mostly.

After two and a half weeks they had the Granger's belongings packed, their practice closed and the house on the market. They headed home together and she would never ever forget Draco's first flight in an airplane. The first hour he had maintained a constant stream of quiet profanities and had a death grip on the arm rests while she hid a grin behind a paperback novel.

She smiled at the memories, very glad that things were back to normal with her parents and they had settled quickly back into their lives, putting out the story that Mrs. Granger had had to go to America for some emergency medical treatment. It was successful, but they didn't like to talk about such a sensitive topic.

She rolled over and watched Draco sleep for a few minutes. Life was pretty incredible right now. She patted him on the shoulder gently to wake him up. They had a lot of errands to run before they left for the Burrow.

"Mmphf." Was the only response she got out of him.

"Come on, love. We've got lots to do today." She rubbed her hand down his arm.

"How long til we have to leave?" He mumbled into the pillow, reaching for her and tugging her to his side.

She checked the time, "Hour and a half."

"Plenty of time…" He rolled over and pulled her until she was straddling his hips. He grinned up at her and deftly maneuvered her out of her shirt. She felt a flush creep her cheeks but grabbed for his hands.

"Not so fast! I've got to get up. We might not have to leave for an hour and a half but I've got quite a bit to do before then. I can't show up looking like I've just rolled out of bed."

"But it's such a good look on you…" He grinned suggestively.

She rolled her eyes. "Be that as it may, it's a no go this morning. But…" She leaned down and kissed his pouting lips. "How about tonight I have a little too much wine and let you take advantage of me when we get home?"

"Fine. I won't forget you know." She slid off of him and he immediately rolled onto his stomach and buried his head in the pillow. "If we've got an hour and a half before we have to leave than I can sleep for another hour."

She chuckled at his typical morning behavior. "I'll wake you in an hour then." He grunted his response.

She headed to the bathroom and started the shower. She had decided to wait to do her hair properly when she got to the Burrow. Fleur was going to help her with that but she was going to do all her make up here. She planned to pamper herself a bit to, hopefully, look her best. She was actually a bit excited about it. She climbed under the hot spray, eager to get warmed up; she was always cold when she woke up in the mornings. Wallowing in the steam she let her mind wander… the events of the coming day were making her nostalgic. Things were really going perfectly… finally. After so much fear and worry her life was finally headed in a direction that she was extremely pleased with. When they'd returned from Australia they spent several weeks with her parents helping them re-settle and just enjoying spending time with them. Her grin fell for a moment as she remembered the worst spot of drama that occurred while they were there.

. . . . .

_They'd all been sitting around the breakfast table, mostly in silence; none of them were particularly chipper in the mornings, when the post owl flew in with the Daily Prophet. She'd taken to reading it again to keep tabs on the rebuilding efforts and the Death Eater trials going on around the country- especially since Harry was testifying in at least half of them. She paid the owl, opened the paper and promptly dropped her spoon with a clatter to her plate. She gazed open-mouthed at the front page._

_"What is it?" Everyone asked simultaneously, worried something terrible was happening again._

_She looked up from the paper and gaped at Draco. Silently she turned the paper so that everyone could read it. The headline proclaimed in huge bold letters:_

"**Malfoy Heir to Wed Daphne Greengrass**"

_"What the bloody hell is that?" Draco demanded and snatched the paper out of Hermione's hands. He then began to read aloud, knowing she would take it right back if he didn't. "Lucius Malfoy announced last night that an agreement has been reached between his family and that of Erestor Greengrass concerning the marriage of the Malfoy heir, Draco, 19, and the youngest Greengrass daughter, Daphne, 17. Mr. Malfoy would not confirm the wedding date, but according to tradition the wedding will take place within twelve months of the announcement. While the eldest Malfoy is set to stand trial for crimes against humanity, Draco Malfoy was a key player in the defeat… blah blah blah." He slowly folded the paper and set it down on the table. "Well. Looks like old Lucius has been busy while we were away." Hermione felt dread curling in her stomach. Draco had his mask back in place. She hadn't seen the mask in weeks. She could sense the cold fury building just beneath the surface._

_"Draco…" She put a hand on his arm._

_"You're connected to the Floo Network here, yeah?" He asked. She nodded, she'd had it connected while they were staying with her parents… she was still slightly paranoid that Harry would need her. He stood up, left the kitchen and went upstairs. She and her parents stared at each other._

_"Is that like… an arranged marriage? Do people still do that?" Her mother asked._

_"The old pureblood families do." She answered quietly. Surprisingly she felt no jealousy, only concern for whatever Draco was about to do. Draco was of age so his father couldn't make a binding marriage contract without his consent, as far as she knew._

_They all turned to the doorway as he reappeared fully dressed now. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He strode to the fireplace. She trotted after him immediately._

_"I'll give you fifteen then I'm coming after you." She told him sternly. "If you get sent to Azkaban for killing that bastard I will not be happy." Part of her wanted to go with him and have his back, she didn't trust Lucius at all, but part of her didn't want to witness a fight that had a lot to do with her. Her presence might even make things worse. He smiled grimly at her._

_"I won't kill him. I promise, love." He gave her a quick peck and then tossing a handful of floo powder in called "Malfoy Manor!" and was swept away in green flames._

_"I suppose his father really is as bad as you say." Mr. Granger supplied from the doorway. She turned and nodded._

_"Well the man just arranged a marriage for his only son and let him find out in the morning paper. That's a pretty good indicator that he's a rotter." She sighed and followed her dad back into the kitchen. The three of them tried unsuccessfully to finish their breakfast but Hermione's twitching prevented it._

_Draco returned thirteen minutes later, just as Hermione was tying her shoes. He had a bloody lip and the knuckles on his right hand were skinned and bruised. She took his hand in hers and led him over to the sink to clean him up._

_"The muggle way?" She asked, surprised that they hadn't dueled._

_"Mum took both our wands before she'd let us in the same room together." He shrugged. "So, guess who's not marrying Daphne Greengrass?"_

_"Hm, you?" She asked, trying to allow him to lighten the mood._

_"Right you are. I've got a few owls to send once you patch me up. The first one to the Daily Prophet, correcting their misinformation, the second to the Greengrasses. I hope they don't think I've agreed to this."_

_"And the third?" She prompted. "You said a few…"_

_"Oh, I ought to send one to Potter before he comes over and hexes me into oblivion, yeah?"_

. . . . .

She shook off that rather unpleasant memory and rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. She purposefully moved on to happier memories. Like when a few weeks after that incident they had all received official letters from the Ministry informing them that they would be receiving monetary rewards for their part in bringing down Voldemort. It was quite substantial, even Neville got a good bit. She'd felt a bit awkward about it but it gave her a financial freedom that she hadn't expected. Now she didn't have to rush to find a job, she could take her time and figure out exactly what she wanted to do. Which she still hadn't really done yet. She was working an internship with the Department of Magical Creatures at the moment, but it wasn't really what she'd hoped it would be. She had an idea brewing in the back of her mind; she might talk to Harry about it soon. She'd need his permission. Draco was doing well in his chosen profession. She grinned wryly as she thought back to when he'd come home to tell her that he'd decided to go into magical law.

"Really?" She'd asked. She sort of assumed that he wouldn't really keep a regular job, being independently wealthy and all that.

"Are you really surprised? I mean… they're going to pay me to argue!"

It was a perfect job for him. During his father's trial he'd sat and quietly complained about the imbecilic lawyers that were trying the case, swearing up and down that he could've argued both sides better than either of the two who were actually the professionals. He was now in an entry level position at the best law firm in wizarding England and was diligently working on climbing the ladder.

They'd taken six months to study for, and pass, their NEWTs, even Harry had done it with them. She'd thought that he wanted to be an Auror, but apparently he'd had his fill of dark wizards and was now content to let others chase them. He'd recently been talking to Bill about taking an internship curse-breaking for Gringotts at some point in the future. After they got their NEWTs they'd all sort of bummed around for a few months, happy to be free from the shadow of Voldemort. Harry decided he was on hiatus until Ginny graduated. They went on a few more holidays, stayed at the Burrow and let Molly fuss over them. She and Draco had spent some time with Narcissa and the baby and things had slowly, almost imperceptibly gotten better with each visit; Hermione thought they'd get there someday.

She hummed quietly to herself as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and turned the water off. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and stepped out of the shower. Donning her bath robe she moved to the counter to get to work on her face, first with a goopy green mask that she loved to gross out Draco with. She moved quietly around their bathroom- which was surprisingly large for a flat in London- and got her make up items together. She and Draco had purchased the flat with part of their reward money about a year ago and loved it. Harry and Ginny were set to move into a flat down the hall after they returned from their honeymoon. She smiled thinking about what a wonderful day it was going to be. She'd wondered if Harry would be able to wait til Ginny graduated before he proposed. He did, but barely. She eyed her bridesmaid's dress hanging on the back of the door and thought of Ginny's wedding dress. Harry was going to be amazed.

* * *

A/N: I almost went with Phantom of the Opera song titles on this one, since it's my second favorite show, but decided to go with a completely different theme. Maybe someone will guess what it is?

Tell me what you think!


	3. Pledging My Time

She and Draco entered the hectic kitchen to find Molly shouting instructions like a drill sergeant to everyone in sight.

"Oh, you're here! Draco, be a dear and help George with the boxes…" Hermione smiled at Mrs. Weasley and kissed Draco on the cheek. She had a feeling Mrs. Weasley was going to keep him busy for the rest of the day. She headed upstairs with her arms loaded with dress bags and packages. Reaching the second landing she knocked on the door to the left. She greeted Fleur when she opened the door and relieved her of a some of her burden. She went in the room to see Ginny wrapped in a bath robe starting her make up.

"Hermione! I'm glad you're here!" She exclaimed spinning around to get up and hug Hermione. Hermione laid her dress bag across the bed and set her packages on the floor. She giggled to herself, knowing that Ginny was indeed very glad she was here because it seemed like she'd been cooped up with Fleur for quite a while. Being married to laid-back Bill had mellowed Fleur somewhat, but she was still a little phlegmy at times.

"Hi! I'm so excited; it's going to be a fabulous day!" She hugged Ginny tightly. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as we're ready. The photographer is going to meet us there in an hour to do the photos of us without the guys. Ginny smiled nervously.

"It's going to be brilliant, Gin. Alright. What do you need help with?" Hermione asked, looking her over.

"Nothing really, I might get Fleur to do the finishing touches on my make up, but if you want her to get started on your hair go ahead."

"Great. Fleur? Do you mind? You know I have no idea what to do with it." She looked apologetically at the beautiful woman.

"I do not mind at all, eet will be beautiful when I am feenished." Hermione sat on a stool that she indicated and closed her eyes and let Fleur have her way with her hair. She obviously trusted her to know what looked good.

Almost an hour later, with make-up done and hair magicked in place, the three of them gathered their dresses, shoes, and various accoutrements to take with them to the wedding site, Madam Mabel's Magical Matrimonial Mecca. With a wave of her wand Fleur sent everything on ahead of them.

With Hermione leading the way to ensure the groom was safely locked in his room, they made their way to the floo.

An hour or so after the ladies finished their photos Draco found himself wandering the halls of the event facility. He was annoyed. Big surprise. Not as annoyed as he'd have been in the same situation a few years ago, but annoyed nonetheless. Hell, a couple of years go he'd have walked out by now.

Mrs. Weasley absently thrust a box into his hands. "Take this back to the caterer, tell them it's for the cake. Thank you, dear." She patted him on the cheek and bustled off before he could respond. He shook his head and went to find the kitchens. He still wasn't comfortable with her motherly affections. He was still puzzled by this second-hand family he'd inherited through Hermione. He'd never considered that the Weasleys would accept him at all, much less with so little comment. Or that he would ever accept them for that matter. He supposed that when they lost Fred, his addition to the group had gone mostly unnoticed. By the time Mrs. Weasley had climbed out of the haze of grief and realized the he and Hermione were together she either realized that too much time had passed for her to be justifiably upset or she just couldn't muster the energy to protest. After some initial awkwardness she and Mr. Weasley began to treat him much the same as she did Potter. He was still getting used to the openness and affection that abounded in the Weasley house. As for his acceptance of them… at first it had only been because it seemed like Hermione turned out to be a package deal. If he wanted her, he'd have to be civil to them. But over time he'd come to appreciate them. Especially Mrs. Weasley's cooking…

Shrugging off his musings he pushed open a swinging door and was assaulted with delicious smells and the boisterous noise of a commercial kitchen in full swing. He stood stunned and unsure just inside the doorway for a moment.

A squeaky voice spoke from somewhere near his knees, "Is you lost, sir? You is not supposed to be in the kitchen, sir." He looked down at the tiny house elf in her crisp white linen dress and matching apron.

"No, I'm supposed to give this to the caterer for the cake." He held the small box out as evidence.

"Oh, this is the cake topper? Daisy will take it." The tiny elf reached her arms up and he handed her the box.

"Thank you." He said looking over her head at the food that was being prepared by a small army of house elves and witches. His stomach rumbled. How much longer until this show got on the road and it was time for dinner?

He left the kitchen and wandered the large dining room. At a loss for what to do with himself, he wandered to the window and shoved his hands into his pockets. Gazing out at the bustle of people setting out chairs, flowers and Merlin knew what else. He had nearly an hour and a half until the wedding started. Maybe he'd go bug Potter. He smirked to himself; he'd be remiss if he didn't harass the groom on his wedding day.

Whistling quietly to himself he navigated the halls, dodging a couple of witches carrying large floral centerpieces. He reached a door with a golden plaque that informed him that he'd reached the groom's suite. He gave a cursory knock and entered without permission. The room was filled with gingers and laughter. He finally saw Potter reclining on a sofa in his undershirt, not having gotten fully dressed yet.

"Hey Malfoy, lost your woman to hair and makeup?" Harry asked as Charlie clapped Draco on the shoulder and handed him a butterbeer. He and Harry had become less hostile with each other since the final battle. At first it had been just trying to avoid making Hermione angry as neither of them were fond of her yelling, but then they had found themselves accidentally speaking to each other when she wasn't in the room or about the latest Quidditch match when no other male was available. In the beginning, when one of them realized the error he would immediately remedy the situation with a quick "Fuck off, Potter" or "Sit on it, Malfoy" and leave the room. But eventually they had settled into a surprisingly easy state of 'non-enemies'. They were not friends. Ask either of them.

"Ha, I haven't seen her in hours." He answered Potter and raised his bottle to Charlie in thanks. "I've come to kill time with you lot, otherwise your mum'll put me to work."

What appeared to be every male Weasley offspring laughed and Mr. Weasley nodded. "Too right you are; I've taken to hiding in the chicken coop to keep from tying ribbons on wedding favors and whatnot."

Draco laughed with the rest of them at Mr. Weasley's plight. He studied the balding man for a little while, not caring enough to follow whatever conversation they'd resumed after the interruption of his arrival had passed. His father had had absolutely nothing good to say about Arthur Weasley. Was it just because he was poor? That was a large part of it. The 'proper' purebloods had long considered the Weasleys bloodtraitors. Why? Because they didn't insist their children marry for money and status? Because they didn't look down on muggles and muggleborns? Yes, to both of those reasons. He found himself very relieved that he'd come to his senses before he woke up one day and found himself married to some pureblood bint like Daphe or Pansy. What a miserable life that would've been.

There was nothing wrong with Arthur Weasley. He was a bit… daft, but he was a good man. Draco knew he'd taken Hermione aside after the battle and gotten the full story on him from her. He was concerned at first but after Potter and, albeit grudgingly, Weaslebee had confirmed what she'd said, he'd had no protest. They had allowed Draco to stay with them for over a week before he and Hermione had left for France and had fed and housed him without complaint. They spoke to him civilly at first and as the months passed warmth replaced the forced politeness that their respect and love for Hermione had required. He still wasn't sure what to do with it. This family was so different from his own. Though his relationship with his mother was vastly better than it had been before, this easy camaraderie that the Weasleys had was still slightly uncomfortable to him.

"Bloody hell, boys, we've got to get dressed. We're due outside for photographs in twenty minutes," Mr. Weasley interrupted the banter. Potter launched himself to his feet and looked slightly panicked. Draco smirked at him. In the chaos of everyone milling about for their robes Draco realized that Hermione had his cloak. He had his suit on already, but the outer cloak was in the garment bag with her dress. He slipped out unnoticed and went upstairs to the bridal suite.

This time he knocked and waited to be allowed entry. The door opened a crack and he saw Hermione's brown eye peeing through.

"Oh, hi!' She squeaked out. "You're by yourself?" He rolled his eyes.

"No, I've got Potter in my pocket, I'm smuggling him in to catch a glimpse of the bride." Now she rolled her eyes and stepped back to he could come in. As the door opened fully he caught a glimpse of Hermione and his eyes roved up and down her silk-clad form. She was wearing a gown of some dark blue color that clung in all the right places and flared out at her knees. His gaze finally found her eyes and he smiled slowly at her. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "That dress is stunning… it's going to look brilliant on the floor later." He laughed when she hissed and swatted his arm.

"Why are you even here, Draco? This is witch-central." She gestured to the explosion of femininity around the room. He saw Ginny, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley were clustered in front of the mirror doing something to Ginny's dress. He didn't really want to know what. Luna Lovegood was sitting nearby staring at him blankly.

"You've got my robes, love." He gestured to the garment bag hanging in the corner.

"Oh, I completely forgot."

He got his cloak, kissed Hermione on the cheek and ducked out of the room before the other women even noticed his presence.

He meandered around the grounds and killed the next half hour until he could go find his seat in the rows of little golden chairs. He was sitting with Hermione's parents, his aunt Andromeda, and cousin Teddy, his mother sat next to him with his younger brother, Scorpius, sleeping on her lap. He'd wondered if they would invite her and was pleased that they had. His mother was struggling socially. Her former social circle- he wouldn't call them friends- had abandoned her in the light of his actions during the war and everyone else ostracized her for what his father had done. Luckily Andromeda had opened the door to Narcissa and they were working on being sisters again. He watched the baby for a few minutes. His mother had confessed that the name Scorpius had been selected for his son when that day came but they'd liked it so much the used it on their unexpected second child. Thank Merlin he'd dodged that hex. Scorpius was worse than Draco.

After a few more minutes music began to play softly. He looked around and noticed that the other seats had been filled. That little Creevy kid was flitting about snapping photos. He rolled his eyes at him. Potter had hired him to do the photography for the wedding. He was such a sap, felt some kind of responsibility for the kid's brother being killed at the final battle. He was supposed to be a good photographer though for being as young as he was though.

The music changed and he watched as Weasley escorted Mrs. Weasley down the aisle to the front row. She smiled and waved and looked a little teary. After they sat he took his place at the front. Harry and the officiant came next. Potter smiled sheepishly, obviously uncomfortable with all the attention. Draco knew that the wedding was a much bigger affair than either Potter or Ginny had wanted, but the wedding of The Boy Who Triumphed had certain standards to meet. The music changed again and he turned to watch Hermione walk slowly up the aisle. Her cheeks turned pink and he could tell she was also uncomfortable with the attention. He couldn't stop his smile; the silk train of her gown trailed lightly behind her and he found himself wanting to press his lips to her exposed shoulders. Later, he promised himself. She smiled at him as she passed and he winked.

Her mother was on his right and she leaned to him and whispered, "She looks beautiful." He smiled down at her and nodded. He liked Mrs. Granger. She was just an older version of Hermione. He wondered for a moment how they must feel, being the only muggles at a magical wedding. He'd have to ask them later.

The music changed one last time and everyone stood and craned their necks to get a look at Ginny. From his height he could see her and he smiled despite himself. Not that he'd admit it out loud, but he'd come to have a fair amount of affection for Weasleyette. She had been the most receptive of him from the beginning and having spent a good bit of time with her he discovered that she had quite a Fred and George sense of humor. She looked prettier than he'd ever seen her and as an already pretty girl that was saying something. Her dress had a similar shape to Hermione's but was lace. It seemed to be a white lace over some sort of champagne colored fabric underneath. It was quite lovely. He turned to look at Potter and laughed out loud at the look on his face. If he cried, Draco would never let him live it down. Ever.

They exchanged the traditional vows and the ceremony was short, thank Merlin. Soon enough Potter was kissing his new wife and he heard sniffles from every woman in a ten mile radius. He watched Hermione dry her eyes with a handkerchief and send the couple a watery smile. She looked to him and smiled and held his gaze for several moments. He wondered what their wedding would be like. Maybe it was getting close to time for them to head to the altar. Hm. That was something to think about. His smile got a little brighter.

Hermione felt her throat constrict as she watched Harry slip Lily Potter's ring on Ginny's finger. A month or so before he proposed Harry had asked her to accompany him to look at some family heirlooms in the Potter vault. He didn't know who had placed his parents' wedding rings back into the vault, Dumbledore perhaps, but he was thinking about using them instead of new ones for himself and Ginny. Luckily, Lily's rings were beautiful and she had been able to honestly assure Harry that Ginny would love them. It appeared that the Potters had been fairly wealthy and James had not skimped when he'd purchased the ring for Lily. Ginny had loved it immediately but when the excitement of the proposal had calmed a bit and Harry had told her the significance of it, Ginny had sat in shock for a few moments before tears began streaming down her cheeks, its history making it all the more special.

Hermione could see that Ginny was struggling with tears now as she put James' ring on Harry's finger. Hermione had to wipe her eyes with the handkerchief Draco had had enough foresight to press into her hand earlier. She looked to him and saw he was watching her. She smiled at him, sitting there between their mothers. She had a flash of a vision of herself in white, standing with Draco in front of everyone they loved. She would be ready for that soon. They'd taken a satisfactory amount of time to get to know each other outside the tumultuous stress of war and she was now content with the knowledge that they were compatible in a 'normal' life, too. More than compatible: ridiculously happy.

She smiled with the rest of the congregation as Harry and Ginny kissed and when the minister announced Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter she handed Ginny's bouquet back to her and beamed at the couple.

Half an hour later Hermione found herself shifting uncomfortably and massaging her cheeks: her face hurt from smiling and the shoes, however fabulous, were pinching her toes. She could hear the grumbles from Ron getting louder as the minutes passed. How many more photos did they have to do? The ceremony was over and Dennis was, hopefully, wrapping up the pictures of the wedding party and family. Hermione looked fondly at the slight young man hopping about snapping away. Harry and Ginny hired him for the photography partly because of Harry's guilt over Collin's death and partly because of the simple fact that Dennis had a good portfolio. Oh, and because he'd offered to do the wedding for free. It had been decided by all parties that Dennis would sell 2 shots, approved by Harry and Ginny, to the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly in an attempt to dissuade photographers from the rags from hiding in the bushes to sneak photos. This way Harry and Ginny had control over what was published and Dennis would be handsomely compensated for his time.

Dennis took muggle and magical photos, which Hermione loved because she felt that a good muggle photograph could be much more dramatic than a magical one. Muggle photographers developed it into more of an art than magical ones. Eventually Dennis did finish and everyone rejoined the guests for the reception. A delicious dinner was served and eaten and people milled about and soon the tables were cleared away the band took its place near the dance floor. She smiled as Harry stood and offered his hand to Ginny. They did a simple waltz as Harry did not enjoy dancing. About halfway through the dance Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined them on the dance floor. Then Bill guided Fleur who floated out after him to join the dancers. She felt Draco stand next to her and took his offered hand with a smile. They had agreed with Harry that they wouldn't make them dance as the center of attention for too long. Draco guided her to the dance floor and spun her into an effortless waltz. She was always surprised at the ease with which he did things like this until she remembered it was part of his pureblood grooming. Well, that was okay: it made her feel like a princess. She giggled as he dipped her over his arm. She let her head fall back to complete the dip and blushed as she saw a few people applaud. He lifted her back up and kissed her when she settled back into his arms. Too soon, it seemed, the music changed and the dance was over.

The night passed extremely quickly. She danced with nearly everyone- Neville only stepped on her toe once and it was only slightly awkward dancing with Ron. Draco had cut in about half way through. She drank just a bit too much wine, giggled at Dean in his traditional robes dancing with Luna in her eye-watering yellow dress looking perfectly happy, and had a wonderful time. At one point she'd seen Ron dancing with Gabrielle Delacour and had nearly rushed over to haul him away from the child, as he had the same Veela-effected face as when he looked at Fleur, when she remembered that Gabrielle had recently turned seventeen. Well, she'd keep an eye on him but it didn't appear that he was doing anything untoward at the moment.

Suddenly she found herself in Draco's arms again as the band played the final song, traditionally a slow one to give the couple one last slow dance. She rested her head in the crook of Draco's neck, every now and then pressing a kiss against it. He held her tightly.

She watched Harry and Ginny sway in a circle over his shoulder. Their foreheads were pressed together and their eyes were closed. She was so happy for them. She saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley watching them from off to the left; she didn't think Mrs. Weasley had stopped crying all evening. Dennis was still taking pictures at an alarming rate. She didn't know how he was still so energetic.

Eventually the music stopped and she reached up to give Draco a kiss. She smiled up at him then stepped away to join the queue to bid Harry and Ginny goodbye. She hugged Harry and kissed him on the cheek.

"Love you." She whispered, smiling.

"Love you, too, Hermione." He gave her one more squeeze and she moved on to Ginny while Harry shook Draco's hand.

"Congratulations, Gin. I'm so happy for you two." She hugged Ginny as well.

"Thank you. I'm so glad you were here with me today." Ginny eased back and took one of Hermione's hands in hers.

"Me too. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Owl us in a couple days and let us know you're alright, yeah?" Ginny gave her hand a squeeze and nodded with a smile.

Harry and Ginny left with all the proper fanfare and after saying goodbye to everyone else, Draco Apparated them back to their flat. Once through the door, Hermione kicked off her shoes with relief and straightened up to see Draco advancing on her with a predatory expression on his face. Heat licked through her system and she began backing down the hall, one step backwards for each of his forward. He took of his cloak and tossed it over the back of a chair.

"I seem to recall a bargain made this morning." He said with a smirk, removing his tie and tossing it on the floor. "If you plan on wearing that dress again you've got less than five seconds to get it off in one piece before I take care of it."

She let out a small shriek and ran for the bedroom with him in hot pursuit. She giggled: why she bothered running she didn't know, she was obviously going to let him catch her.

* * *

A/N: Happy Friday! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Don't forget: I am addicted to your reviews: the more you review the faster I write and post! :)


	4. Idiot Wind

About a month after the wedding they were gathered at the Burrow for Sunday lunch, they hadn't all been together since Harry and Ginny had come back from their honeymoon. Lunch had been delicious, obviously, as Molly had cooked it. After the meal she found herself on the sofa sipping a butterbeer sitting next to Harry.

"I'm glad you're home. I haven't gone that long without seeing you in years." She patted his hand.

"We had a great time, but it's good to see you, too." He smiled back at her, looking more tan and relaxed than she'd ever seen him. She shifted towards him.

"You know I've been meaning to ask you something." She laughed as he looked a little wary. "About Snape's potions book." His wariness increased.

"What about it?" He looked a mixture of slightly guilty and slightly annoyed. "You don't still want me to get rid of it, do you?"

"No, of course not. I want to publish it."

"You… what?" He looked surprised.

"I want to publish it. Nearly all the instructions are better than what's in the standard book and I want the students to have the best. And I want to give Snape credit for all that work. I wanted to see what you thought about that."

Harry was quiet a moment. "Yeah. I think that would be good. You'll do right by him."

"I'll do my best, I promise." She was thrilled he'd agreed do easily.

"Alright then. I'll bring it over tomorrow." He seemed to think about it for another moment then nodded again. She was happy that he was on board with this.

They both looked up as Mrs. Weasley entered the room. "Well, Hermione dear, it looks like it's your turn to walk down the aisle. When will you and Draco decide to make it official?" Mrs. Weasley questioned. Hermione blushed and cleared her throat. She knew Mrs. Weasley did not like the thought of her and Draco living together not being married.

"Erm… We haven't talked about it lately. We will, Mrs. Weasley. Don't worry." She squirmed a little as the Weasley matron managed to look both loving and disapproving at the same time. She left to return to the kitchen to work on the huge mess that was left after feeding everyone.

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked after he finished sniggering at her.

At that moment, Ron came busting in the backdoor. "Harry! Quidditch! Orchard! Now! Hermione! Come keep score!"

Hermione rolled her eyes but Harry leapt off the couch to join in the game. She was glad things had smoothed out with Ron. He still looked a little queasy whenever she and Draco showed any affection, but he wasn't angry anymore. She couldn't even tell you when it happened… it wasn't like they had some long, heartfelt talk; he just gradually decreased the snide remarks and glares until they were gone. She was glad he'd come to terms with it, she had missed their friendship.

She spent the remainder of the afternoon watching and laughing as she watched the Weasleys, Harry, and Draco fly over the orchard. She was really amused listening to Harry and Draco, who were opposing seekers, heckle each other across the impromptu pitch. It would never cease to amaze her that they were friends. Just don't tell them that.

The weeks passed quickly as she threw herself into working on the book. She'd set up the second bedroom of their flat, which had been serving as a library to their vast combined collection of books, into a potions lab. She'd draped plastic down the bookshelves to ensure that their books didn't absorb any vapors or be ruined by any accidents. She and Harry had sat down and gone over which ones he had remembered brewing successfully in class. After a year of potions class it ended up being the majority of them. She spent two weeks holed up in the 'lab' and made the remaining potions with Snape's improvements. She had known starting out that Snape's instructions would be spot on, but she couldn't responsibly publish them without double checking.

She'd been in contact with several publishers shopping the idea around and had a few initial offers to look over. While she worked she thought about what to do with the proceeds of sales. She initially thought she'd like to give the house elves of Hogwarts a salary and benefits, but remembered that this was Snape's work and not hers. She still had time to decide. She remembered that he'd been a poor child… maybe a benevolence fund for purchasing school supplies for kids from lower-income families. She'd figure it out later.

"How much longer are you going to work, love?" Draco asked, leaning through the door surveying her cauldrons and cutting boards.

"Just another could of minutes and then clean up. This will have to set up overnight." She said while adding two teaspoons of powdered bicorn horn. "How was your day?"

"Good… my boss asked me to sit for the exam." He said quietly.

"What? You mean… to officially be a lawyer?" She stopped and turned to face him.

"Yeah. They're promoting me to legal assistant starting next week. They want me to sit the exam in six weeks. If I pass they'll put me on the fast track to junior attorney." He said with wide eyes. She could see the excitement he was trying to stifle.

"Merlin, Draco! That's wonderful!" She abandoned the cleanup for the moment and threw her arms around his neck. "Well you'll pass it no problem! You've already been studying for it for a year!"

"It's a bit eerie how much you've rubbed off on me. Studying a year in advance…" He winked at her.

"You studied while we were in school," She said, turning back to straighten up her table. "Although, I believe that was your vain attempt to try and beat my grades." She smirked at him over her shoulder.

"You know, I think it's me who's rubbed off on you: you never used to smirk." When she just laughed he added, "You have twenty minutes to finish and get ready for dinner. You're taking me out to celebrate my promotion."

The next three weeks passed in a haze of potion vapors and writing for Hermione and endless hours of reading for Draco. One Thursday evening she found herself shuffling through a stack of offers from no fewer than four publishing houses. She had no idea what to do with this, she was not good at contracts and negotiations. This led her to gather them up and search out Draco, who was in the living room with a multitude of texts spread on the coffee table.

"Hey. I'd like to pick your brain when you get a moment." She settled in the arm chair across from him.

"Go ahead; I've done about all I can do tonight. I'm just staring at the pages at this point." He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

She tossed the papers down in front of him. "These are my offers for the book. I'm not sure what to do with them."

"Have you sent them all manuscripts?" He asked, reading each document in turn.

"Just excerpts so far. I've actually just finished it though. It's ready." She said quietly. His head shot up.

"You finished it?" He asked, surprised.

She nodded, torn between being proud and terrified of calling it finished. "It's still got to be approved by the ministry since it's a required text book, but I've already spoken with the wizard in charge and he said it would probably only take a week to ten days since it's just a revision of an existing book, and" she flushed a bit, "because of my reputation."

"Wow. That's fast. What are you calling it?"

"Just Advanced Potion Making, Second Edition."

"And the authors?" He asked, setting the papers down.

"The original author, Snape, …. and myself. I re-wrote some of the text. Snape revised the instructions and I revised some of the theory…. to make it easier to read and understand. That's alright, isn't it?" She asked nervously. She was still in shock that she had the audacity to make any changes to a textbook even when she really felt that they were necessary. Old Borage may have been an excellent potions maker, but some of his explanations of the theory were difficult to follow. She was amazed that she'd gotten it put together in only a little over a month, but most of it had already been done for her by Snape.

"It's brilliant!" He came around the table and pulled her into a hug. "Your mum's going to freak out when you tell her you're a published author." Her heart skipped a beat… Hermione Granger, published author. Amazing. She stifled a giggle. He released her and went back to the offers.

"Right, who published Hogwarts: A History?" He asked, looking up at her, she pointed to the second offer in the stack. He tossed the other three on the floor.

"What are you doing?" She gasped, watching the papers scatter across the carpet.

He rolled his eyes, "Are you telling me you don't want your text published by the same house as did your all-time favorite?"

"Well… if they offer the best deal then, yes." She answered tentatively; slightly embarrassed that he'd called her on that secret wish so easily.

"They've got the best reputation and specialize in textbooks anyways." He read down another page. "So, the original author… Borage or whatever his name was. You've got written permission from his estate to do this thing, right?"

"I would have done, but he hasn't got any. He died thirty years ago and had no descendants and no will. So everything was forfeited to the ministry. I got permission from the Office of Magical Texts and Literacy instead." He nodded, satisfied with her answer.

"Right. Well they've offered you 9.5% of net proceeds. That's pretty good, actually. But then they already pretty much know exactly how many of these they'll sell, it being a required text and all." He finished the last page and looked up at her. "I've got a feeling you aren't going to see any of these profits yourself. Why don't you tell me your plans?"

She laughed at his pained expression. "I've got enough money; I'd rather use it to set up a benevolence fund… like scholarships for books and robes and such for kids coming from poor families. Snape came from a poor family so I feel like he'd be satisfied with this…"

"Snape would be annoyed by all of this and by your sentimental nature, but there's nothing we can do about that." He laughed at the image of Snape handing out galleons to dirty street urchins.

She closed her mouth and sat back a little. She supposed he was right… was she doing the right thing? This was part of Snape's legacy after all.

"No, no, this is a good thing you're doing." He rushed out as he noticed he'd hurt her feelings. "I promise. It's good. Nothing ever made him happy, you know that." She gave a small laugh and he continued. "Okay, we're going to respond and say that we want 12% and we'll negotiate it somewhere in the middle. We'll tell them that the proceeds will go to…. Have you named it yet?"

"Hogwarts Assistance Program."

"Okay, I'll write it up and we'll send it off with Nyx in the morning. She's still off delivering that letter to my mum anyways." He got out a parchment and a ball-point pen and began his response letter. She'd always giggle a little when she saw him use anything muggle. It would never cease to amuse her.

"Brilliant. Thank you for your help. I'll go get started on dinner then, while you do that." He grunted in response, not really paying attention.

She walked into the kitchen and perused the dinner options. She'd just pulled some pasta out of the cupboard when there was a tap at the window above the sink. Outside, a lovely gray owl was perched.

"Oh, we've got some post." She called into the other room as she opened the window for the owl. As she was untying the letter she noticed the bird's toenails were painted a shining green. "You poor thing. Who is your owner?" She gave the bird a soft pet and opened the letter.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_I am writing to request an interview with you for my upcoming book about the recent wizard wars in Britain. A book with the intimate details is long overdue and your insight would be extremely helpful. I can work you in around the times when my darling Harry is working with me._

_Please send your availability back with Kipsy._

_Warm regards,_

_Rita Skeeter_

Hermione's jaw unhinged as she read the short letter three times through. The nerve of that woman! Assuming that she'd give her an interview and that Harry would work with her! If she thought for one second that she'd give that lying piece of owl dung the time of day she was sorely mistaken.

She was going to send her a scathing reply right this second. She grabbed up a pen and set it to a paper, but stopped. No, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten under her skin. Instead she scribbled at the bottom of Rita's letter:

_I decline._

She folded it and turned back to the owl, who'd been drinking from the small tray at the window ledge. "Kipsy?" The bird hopped over and obediently held her leg out. She patted the bird again and it flew out the still open window.

She stormed back into the living room. "You will not believe who is writing a book on the war and just wrote to me requesting an interview." She cocked her hip and settled her fist on it.

"Who is it this time?" Draco asked, folding and sealing his completed response.

"Rita effing Skeeter." She ground out.

"No she did not." He said, his eyes wide. Hermione nodded. "After all the rubbish she's written about you, she thinks you'll do an interview?"

"Not only that, she said she'd fit me in around her darling Harry's schedule! As if Harry would give her an interview! She wrote worse things about him than she did me. If I hadn't blackmailed her, she'd have never written that legitimate piece for the Quibbler." She stormed to the fireplace and reached for the floo powder. She was already kneeling to floo Harry when he spoke up behind her.

"Whoa, wait, back up. You blackmailed her?" He asked with wide eyes and mouth gaping, incredulous. When she smiled grimly at him in response he put his hand on his heart and said in a falsely choked voice, "I just... I'm so proud!" She laughed and he narrowed his eyes at her. "What did you do?"

"Erm. There's no time to talk about that right now. I've got to ring Harry." She tossed the powder into the fire and spoke Harry's address, which was only on the other side of the building, but she didn't want to just barge in. She thrust her head in the flames and saw the empty living room. "Harry?" She called loudly. Hopefully they weren't… busy.

Ginny poked her head out of the kitchen. "Oh hey, Hermione." She turned back to the kitchen and spoke to Harry. "It's Hermione. I reckon she's just got a letter, too, then."

Harry came into the living room, slightly red-faced. "Did Rita write you, too?" He asked, waving his letter as evidence.

"Yes. She said she'd work me in around your interviews." She said bitterly.

"Barking, that one. Why would she think we'd talk to her?" He shook his head.

"She knew we wouldn't, and now she's free to make up whatever she wants. Which she would have done anyways. This is going to be a nightmare, Harry. She'll probably say the three of us had some illicit love triangle while we were out on our own or something!" She huffed out a breath. "Who knows where she'll fit Draco into that equation? She'll probably say that I was sleeping with all three of you!"

Harry scraped his hands down his face, then stilled and studied her a moment. "You write it then. I always figured you'd do it sooner or later."

"What?" She asked blankly. He wasn't saying what she thought he was saying, was he?

"Right now there's no historical text detailing the war. It's only a matter of time until that starts to annoy you. You know how many interviews we've turned down with crappy authors because we didn't trust them to do the thing properly. So you should just do it yourself." He laughed when she stared blankly at him. "I promise I'll give you all the interviews you want."

"He's right Hermione. Everyone will know it's accurate if you write it. And it'll be a history, not a drama like Skeeter's book will be." Ginny added from the kitchen doorway.

Hermione gaped at them for another couple of moments. "I'll… but… you two are barking!" She snapped out and they laughed, then Harry made a serious face at her and she knew he meant it. "I guess I'll think about it. Why don't you two come over for dinner tomorrow and we'll talk about it?" Both Potters nodded. "Right then… have a good night." She said somewhat dazedly and straightened up, fully back in her own living room again. She stood and turned to face Draco.

He blinked at her vacant expression. "What's wrong, love?"

"Harry… he wants me to write it." She said slowly. Draco walked up to her and ran his hands down her arms. He was quiet for a moment then gave his opinion.

"I think you should. No one knows it better than you do. You know the stories of everyone that was in the Order and I can give you the scoop on the goings-on on the Dark Side up until the last month." Her gaze shot to his. Was he serious? He looked serious. Did they really think she could do something this important?

"I can't… this is… but… This is insane! _Me_? Write a history book on ten years' worth of warfare?" She shook her head. "No. This is too important. A historian needs to do this."

"Who? Bathilda Bagshot?" He cocked an eyebrow.

She glared at him. He knew full well the fate that had befallen the poor woman. "Someone _like_ her!" She continued to protest.

"Hermione, there is no one like her." She continued to glare at him.

"Okay then." He held his hands up. "We'll leave it for Rita to write. Eventually someone will do it properly. Her account of it will do until then. I mean, she'll probably make most of it up, and will insinuate- at best- that you were sleeping with all three of us. She'll probably cast aspersions on my character, and Scorp's… she'll probably say he's Voldemort's… She'll likely insinuate that you offered me some sort of... _compensation_ for saving you at the manor…." He trailed off, waiting for her response.

She couldn't allow that. Rita _would_ say that about that poor baby. She could care less about what the woman said about her, but she'd ruin that child's life if she insinuated he was Voldemort's. Even though it had been proven, in a closed session with the Wizengamot that Scorpius was Lucius' child. She could feel herself caving. As huge and intimidating as this project would be, she couldn't let Rita sensationalize it.

She glared up at him. "Well played, Malfoy."

He grinned in triumph. "You're going to do it then?"

"I'm going to think about it." She chewed on her lip. "How can we stall Skeeter then? She's already got a head start and you remember how fast she had Dumbledore's alleged biography out."

Draco thought for a moment. "Floo Potter back and tell him to tell her yes. We'll have him string her out as long as he can waiting for his interview."

She did as he instructed and Harry was happy to participate in any plan that screwed with Rita Skeeter, and went immediately to answer the letter, which he'd put off until after dinner.

When she straightened back up Draco was writing in the letter to the publisher again. "I added a note that said you were contemplating writing an account of the war and asked if they'd be interested in talking more about it." He sealed the envelope and laid it on the table to be sent in the morning. "They'll bite. The war heroine and brightest witch of our age writing the history of the war? It'll be an instant best seller and they know it." She felt a little nauseous all the sudden… "Let's write to the others who made offers on the potions book and make the pitch, that way word will get out and every single publisher is going to want your book over hers."

She felt a flare of panic. "But, what if I decide not to do it? I mean… I haven't committed to this yet, Draco!"

"I know, relax. But if they think there's a possibility, they're going to hold out for your book because it's a first-hand account. Rita wasn't there. You were. They know that, the public knows that." He said calmly, trying to reassure her. It did a bit. Part of her, the Slytherin side of her that Draco had been steadily nurturing over the last couple years started to giggle at the prospect of derailing Rita's book.

"Okay. Let's do that. Even if I don't write it, it should stall her book. Maybe indefinitely…" Her brain went into overdrive, thinking about the pros and cons of taking on this project.

Draco saw her eyes glaze over and sighed. "There went my supper, yeah?" When he got no response he continued. "I'm going to get some sushi from the place on the corner then." She nodded vaguely at him and drifted off to find a pen and parchment to make a chart. "The usual? …. Right." He asked and answered himself. He shook his head at her and grabbing his jacket, headed for the door.


	5. Til I Fell In Love With You

The next evening found Hermione, Draco, Harry and Ginny sitting around the dinner table working their way through take out Italian and a couple bottles of red wine.

"Rita wrote me back this morning, wants me to meet her Wednesday. I told her I couldn't this week; it would probably be next week at the earliest." He ate the last bite of his cheesecake. "I'll blow her off next week, too. If she hadn't heard about you shopping your book around by then. Who knows what she'll try to pull when she hears that."

Ginny laughed dryly, "What she'll probably do is put something in the Prophet to discredit Hermione. I can't imagine anything she can publish that could be anything other outright lies."

"That's never stopped her before." Draco added. She glared at him, remembering that at one time, he had contributed the rumors.

Harry was studying her intently. "Hermione if you don't want to do this we won't. We can just let her write her book and… we'll finally give interviews to the media when it comes out and clear anything up that needs it. We can handle anything she throws at us. I mean, we asked you to write a history book. That's slightly insane."

"No, it's alright. I mean, it's always sort of been in the back of my mind. I mean, it's not like I have any job prospects or direction right now. I'm obsessed with books; it's the next logical step, really."

The other three murmured agreement.

"Well, you know me. Now that I'm in, I'm all in. Harry I want to talk to you about anything you want left out. Let me get a pen and paper, you think about it, I'll be right back." She was back inside of two minutes. Harry ran his fingers through his hair.

"A new obsession, just what Hermione needs." He muttered. He blew out a breath and began, "I don't want anything about the hallows, I think." He held her gaze a moment. "I don't want people to know about my invisibility cloak, it's too good a security asset to risk someone trying to take it or knowing we've got it. Also, the stone isn't destroyed. People will descend on the Forbidden Forest and search until they find it, or someone could break into Dumbledore's tomb for the Elder Wand. All three hallows still exist; we don't need a Death Eater or some other wackadoo to have them. Or hurt people in the attempt to get them." His gaze edged toward Ginny.

"I agree. That won't be hard to gloss over. The only one outside us and Ron who knows we even talked about is Xenophelius Lovegood and… well, no one really believes much that comes out of his mouth." She scribbled a note on her paper. "What else?"

"Um, probably the fact that I talked to Dumbledore while I was…. not dead. They'll think I'm barking." That drew light laughs from everyone, though the ladies' laughs were a bit strained around the edges.

"No undead visit with Dumbledore…" Hermione muttered while she wrote it down. She looked up expectantly. Harry chuckled.

"If I think of anything else I'll let you know, yeah?"

"Of course, sorry. Let's talk about something else then." She put her paper away and topped off everyone's wine.

"So, Ron's starting training next week." Ginny supplied. "He's extremely excited."

"Playing for the Cannons is a dream come true, even he's the reserve seeker." Harry added, smiling at Ron's luck. He hoped it wasn't a publicity stunt of the team's though.

"If he ever actually gets to play we'll have to make posters that say 'Weasley is our king." Draco added. All four of them laughed and the rest of the evening pass pleasantly and Harry and Ginny stumbled down the hall back to their flat after they killed their third bottle of wine.

Later that week Hermione sat in their now de-tarped study and made notes to help her get organized for to start her book. She had a list of people she wanted to interview, and people she needed to get permission from to tell what she already knew. Just out of courtesy, she'd done the research into the privacy laws and she was fully within her rights to use any names and tell what she knew about them. She was planning on starting a rough outline in about a week. She eyed the stack of post from every single publishing house they had written to. They were all interested in buying her book and they offered her advances ranging from 1,000 galleons to 10,000. The highest was from the same one that was publishing the potions book and she'd been very happy with all the dealings she'd had with them. She would probably sign a contract with them after she had an outline she was satisfied with and felt certain she would actually go through with this.

She glanced across the room at Draco. He was sitting in the floor leaned up against a bookshelf with a pad of paper balanced on his knee and no fewer than seven large books spread around him on the floor. He was taking the Wizarding Exam for Law Practice, the WELP, next week. She had no doubt he was going to do amazingly well, she was proud of him.

Draco took time the next day to run some errands. The first was to visit his mother. She greeted him in the sitting room with a kiss on the cheek.

"Mum, how are you?" He kissed her in return.

"I'm very well, thank you dear." She waved him to a seat.

"Where's Scorp?" He asked, taking the tea she offered.

"Down for his nap. He'll probably be another half hour, if not more. We played outside this morning, I wore him out." She said smiling. He still struggled with this new image of his mother. The one who played with her child. He struggled not to be jealous. He knew she had probably wanted to do that with him and hadn't been allowed.

"I don't think I'll be able to hang around and wait if he sleeps much longer. I came for a reason mother…." He trailed off, not sure where to begin.

"What's wrong, Draco?" She put down her cup and leaned forward.

"Nothing at all actually," he smiled at her. "Things are brilliant. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to ask Hermione to marry me sometime soon."

She sat back sharply, her eyes widening a bit. She took a deep breath, then another. "Well." She said finally. "I thought you would eventually."

"Is that all you have to say?" He asked, trying to keep any aggression out of his voice. Her opinion wouldn't change her mind, but he'd hate to lose his mother after they'd finally established a good relationship.

"No, you just took me by surprise." She looked at her hands for a moment. "You know how I was raised, Draco. It's hard to put that aside and relearn how to treat people." She looked up at him again and he found that instead of anger he felt a little pity. Her childhood teachings had been similar to his. Without the brutality of Lucius, but with the cold, uncaring treatment of others. "Hermione is… a brilliant young woman. I know that you love her and I know that she loves you." She gave him a small smile now. "Part of me wants to immediately protest that she's Muggleborn, but the rest of me is happy that you two have each other. I'm happy for you, son."

An hour later he walked down a pretty muggle street with a bit of a spring in his step. His mother's approval, while not necessary, was very welcome. Now, for the one that really counted. Well, it wouldn't change things either way, but it could prove to be a bit of a hurdle.

He rang the doorbell and waited patiently. He'd owled earlier to ask if it was okay if he came by so they probably had an idea what was going on: he never came without Hermione.

The front door opened and a smiling Jean Granger motioned him to come in. "Come in, Draco, it's good to see you."

"You too, Mrs. Granger." He bent down to give the customary hug of greeting. All these damn affectionate people in his life now. He was afraid he was starting to like it.

"How many times have I asked you to call me Jean?" She gave him a mock glare, he just smiled. He'd call her Jean one of these days, when he was more comfortable. "Come on, Richard's in the kitchen. I just made some biscuits."

"They smell fantastic." He followed Jean into the kitchen and shook Mr. Granger's hand as he sat at the table.

"Draco, good to see you, son. You have good timing; these just came out of the oven. Tea?" Mr. Granger offered.

"Yes, please." He took the offered plate of biscuits from Mrs. Granger. They made small talk for a few minutes until they'd finished.

"Well. You probably suspect why I'm here." He looked to see Mrs. Granger start smiling. "With your permission, I'd like to ask Hermione to marry me." He was going to no matter what anybody said, but he supposed the formalities were nice.

Mrs. Granger let out a small squeal and Mr. Granger chuckled. "I thought as much. And what would you do if we did not give our permission?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"Well, I'd ask her anyway, of course. But I'd much prefer for the two of you to be on board with it." Draco returned, hoping he was joking…

Mr. Granger laughed, "Well you don't have to worry about it. Of course we give our blessing." He held his hand out to Draco. "Welcome to the family, son."

Draco shook his hand and smiled, "Thank you, sir. Now you just have to keep it a secret until I ask her. It's going to be a couple weeks." He said pointedly to Mrs. Granger, who tried to look innocent. He raised an eyebrow and she mimed zipping her lips.

The day of Draco's exam arrived and Hermione was spending the afternoon trying to distract herself from worrying about it. It was a two part exam and each part was allotted two and a half hours with a half hour break between. It was barely after two. It would be at least three hours before he would be finished. She sighed and looked down at her notes, pleased with the rough outline she'd started. She would need lots of photographs for this book. Some would be old photos, like the one Harry had of the original Order, but she wanted new ones also… of the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow, the Gaunt shack and Riddle house… the cemetery there, a Dark Mark. Lots of photos. She wondered if Ginny had gotten any of the wedding photos back from Dennis yet… if they were good she'd ask him to do the photography for her. She'd just floo over and ask, she hadn't seen Ginny in a few days anyway.

Walking over and tossing the powder into the fire place she leaned in and called out their flat number. She coughed a bit as their living room swam into view.

"Hey Gin?" She called. The thought she heard a faint response from down the hall. A moment later Ginny came trotting in.

"Hey 'Mione! What's up?" Ginny asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and sat on the coffee table across from the fireplace.

"Not a whole lot. Trying to distract myself from worrying about Draco's test." She grimaced.

"Well come over, we'll bake him cookies or something. And gossip. We haven't had a gossip session in weeks!" Ginny bounced excitedly.

Hermione laughed, "You sure you aren't busy?"

"I was doing laundry, but I'd love an excuse to put it off. Come over!"

"Alright, I will! Let me just leave him a note so he'll know where to find me. I'll be right there." She laughed to herself as she stood up and went to the notepad they kept on the fridge. Ginny was so much like Molly sometimes, all the baking. She was glad she had Ginny though and thought that Ginny felt the same way: they were both surrounded by men. Every now and then a girl just needed a break. A glass of wine and some giggling. And yes, gossip. The guys just didn't understand…

D- At Ginny's, floo over when you get home! Love you! -H

She left the note in the center of the table… he should see it right there.

She grabbed a bottle of wine and bounced over to the fireplace, suddenly very excited about having some girl time.

She flooed over to find Ginny pulling some snacks out of the fridge. "Hey, I brought some wine!" She called joining the redhead in the kitchen.

Ginny laughed, "Oh, we're going to do the thing properly then! Our men are going to love coming home to find us pissed in the middle of the afternoon!" She took the bottle and tapped her wand to pop the cork out. "I am craving some sweets. Chocolate chip cookies? Or something else?"

"No we all love those. Let's do that." They moved about the kitchen for a few minutes gathering ingredients and mixing bowls. She picked a piece of cheese off of the plate that Ginny made up.

"So, when does Lucius get out of Azkaban? It's soon isn't it?" Ginny asked, measuring the flour.

Hermione frowned. "Yeah. Just six months. I still can't believe he got off only serving two and a half years. I guess saving Harry at the end and making that massive donation helped him out."

"Yeah… that and everyone in the Great Hall saw him fighting Death Eaters to protect Narcissa. Really if Draco hadn't turned he'd be rotting in there." Ginny asserted, adding baking soda.

"If Draco hadn't turned I'd be dead and Harry and Ron might still be in the woods." Hermione said with a shiver.

"Ugh. Thank Merlin he did what he did." She tossed Hermione a sympathetic look. "Are you worried about him being released?"

"A bit. I'm sure he knows that Draco and I are living together and you know he can't be happy about it." She chewed on her lip. "You know what, let's not talk about it." She picked up the recipe and measured out the specified amount of sugar and added it to the bowl, then picked up the brown sugar. "Tell me something… What's new?"

"Well, you know Harry started his curse-breaking internship with Bill on Monday. He's loving it. Harry Potter can't be happy with out just a little Dark magic to fight." She smiled wryly. "Oh, here's juicy news you might not have heard: Ron may have a new love interest."

"Really? More than just a one nighter then?" Ron hadn't had a spent more than a week with a girl since the end of the war. His prerogative she supposed. She still felt a little strange thinking about Ron with someone.

"Apparently. You'll never believe who it is." Ginny turned fully toward Hermione and put her hand on her hip.

"Lavender?" She guessed, Ginny shook her head no. "Erm… I don't know. Tell me."

"Phlegm 2.0."

"Phlegm… Fleur… Gabrielle?!" Hermione gasped, remembering seeing them dance at the wedding a couple months ago. "But she's …. so young!"

"I know. Nearly five years younger than he is." Ginny returned to bowl that was mixing itself and slowly added flour as it churned. "But haven't we always complained about how immature he is? Maybe with someone younger they'll be better suited. It's fine with me as long as it makes her stop making eyes at Harry." Ginny gave a particularly violent shake of the flour bowl.

Hermione groaned, "Oh I know. That was almost painful to watch. Maybe they'll be suited… she's got that same Veela appearance as Fleur that he drools over."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "That was hard to watch. We'll see what happens with them then… she's till in France and he can't visit much because of Quidditch. I think he's actually writing her letters." Ginny shook her head in amazement.

"What? Like, proper letters?"

"Yup. Mum says he'll spend nearly an hour reading hers and responding. Barmy, isn't it?" She asked, adding the chocolate chips to the bowl.

"Wow" was all she could think to say. "Ron writing letters? I just… can't believe that. He must be over the moon for her!"

Ginny nodded, reaching over to turn the oven on. "Must be. Good for him I suppose, now he can quit pining after you."

Hermione took a sip of her wine. "I hope he hasn't been pining. I want him to be happy, even if it means another dose of phlegm in the family."

"Well, I say that, but I guess he quit pining a while back. He will always dislike Draco, but he doesn't think he's in love with you anymore. And he isn't mad at you anymore. But I imagine you've figured that out on your own, he's not exactly subtle."

She laughed dryly, "Too true." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hermione snacking and Ginny spooning the cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. "Oh! I've been meaning to ask you, did you get your wedding photos back from Dennis yet?" Hermione finally remembered what had initially prompted her to call on Ginny.

"Just last week. Do you want to see them?" Ginny asked smiling, obviously wanting Hermione to say yes.

"That's a silly question. Of course I do!" Maybe there would be a few good ones of her and Draco… she only had a couple and none were frame-worthy.

Ginny popped the first tray of cookies into the oven and brushed her hands down her already floury apron and went to get the portfolio Dennis had sent over. They sat at the kitchen table while the cookies baked sipping wine and looking through what must've been three hundred shots.

"Dennis must've pared it down; he had to have taken a thousand pictures that day. He was all over the place." Hermione commented, smiling at a photo of Ron with his arms thrown around George and Charlie, all three of them laughing at the camera.

"He must have done. All these are wonderful. Did you see this one?" She handed Hermione a muggle photo of herself and Draco. They were dancing, her eyes were closed and a small smile played on her lips. Draco had his cheek rested on her forehead as he held her close. He looked so handsome.

"Oh, it's brilliant. I'm going to write him for a copy. I've been wanting one of us to frame for a long time." She smiled down at the photo.

"Take this one, I'll take the copy. It's going to be a little while before I get an album put together out of all this." She continued as Hermione started to protest. "Oh and you know what? We must've gotten twenty picture frames as wedding gifts. I'm serious; it was like another one was showing up every single time the post came." Ginny stood and motioned Hermione to follow. "Apparently it's the go-to gift for when you want to get the couple something but don't really know what they like."

She opened the door to the second bedroom which still had several boxes stacked inside that they hadn't gotten unpacked yet. She selected a fairly large box and set it on the bed. Gesturing to the box she said "Go ahead, see if there are any you like. I don't have enough wall or shelf space to use all these frames, honestly." The timer on the oven beeped and Ginny scurried out to tend to the cookies.

Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable about taking one of their wedding gifts until she opened the box and saw that Ginny had not been exaggerating. She rifled through for a few moments, rejecting the frames that were too small- Dennis had printed this one in 8 x 10. Finally she came across two simple black wooden frames. Smiling she put one to the side and packed the rest neatly into the box. Returning to the kitchen she showed Ginny which one she'd taken.

"You had two of this one, so I picked it." She turned it over and worked on taking the back off to put the photo into the frame. "How're the cookies doing? They smell fantastic. Bless the Americans for thinking these up."

She'd just gotten the photo secured in the frame and was admiring it when they heard the floo activate.

"Hello?" They heard Draco call in the living room. "Do I smell cookies?"

"In the kitchen!" both women called at the same time.

Draco sauntered into the kitchen with one hand behind his back. "Found your note." He leaned down to give her a peck on the lips. "Guess what else I found when I came in." He grinned. She felt a little nervous… he hardly ever grinned.

"What?" She asked suspiciously, trying to peek to see what was behind his back.

"Two post owls delivered it and were still tied to the thing when I got in. Not happy, those birds." He grinned another moment then whipped a large book out from behind his back. She stared at it for a moment in disbelief. Her name was on the cover. "An advance copy." He explained.

"Is that the Prince's book? Oh, it's brilliant! Congratulations, Hermione!" Ginny rushed over to get a closer look at it. She trailed her finger across Hermione's name printed clearly under Snape's on the cover.

Hermione silently took the book from Draco and trailed her own finger across their names. Published author. Amazing. Finally she looked up, as if just remembering that Draco was there.

"Oh! How was your exam?" She asked excitedly.

He grinned again and she had her answer. "Passed. Brilliantly of course." He added arrogantly. She squealed and launched herself into his arms.

Ginny laughed at them, "Merlin! A published author and a newly minted lawyer all in the same day! You need to celebrate!"

Draco nodded at Ginny. "I like the way you think." He turned back to Hermione. "Go pack a bag; we're going to the chateau for the weekend. Ginny love, be a dear and give us some cookies to take with us." He winked at her.

Hermione released him and went to hug Ginny. "Sorry to leave you so suddenly!"

"Don't be sorry, France is obviously better than hanging out in this flat! Next time I'm coming with you though! " Ginny returned her hug then went to find something to send the cookies in. Hermione grabbed up her glass and put it in the sink and when she turned back she saw Draco puzzling at their framed photo.

"A muggle photograph then? Since it doesn't move?" He asked without looking up.

"Yep, you know Dennis is Muggleborn."

He nodded. "It's good… it's different from magical photos. More than just the movement thing." She smiled, knowing what he meant. He looked up, "Ready then?" She nodded. "Sorry to steal her away, Gin. Thanks for the cookies though." He let Ginny kiss him on the cheek and they headed for the floo.

Stepping out into their own living room, Hermione immediately placed the new photo on the mantle and stood back to admire it. "I like it." She smiled up at him.

"I do, too. I didn't even see him take it. Sneaky little bugger." He left the room, presumably to throw some clothes into a bag. She rushed after him; she loved the chateau and was extremely excited to go back. She made a quick detour to scribble a note to Dennis, she wanted to make sure he scheduled some time for her next week.

_Dennis,_

_I've just come back from looking at the Potter's wedding photos and they are brilliant. Well done!_

_I don't know if you've heard, but I've decided to write a book on the war. A true history, before someone sensationalizes it. Would you be interested in doing the photography for me? I'll have quite a list of sites and things that I'd like to include photos of._

_Please let me know if you're interested and we can discuss the terms, or perhaps you could refer another photographer if you aren't? Though I'd prefer to have you as I want some of the photos to be muggle._

_Hope you're well,_

_Hermione Granger_

She sealed it up, called Nyx and instructed the owl to take it to Dennis. "Now when you come back with the reply we'll be in France at the chateau, alright?" The owl nipped affectionately at her finger and took off through the window.

She grinned and rushed down the hall to pack her bag. Where had she put her bathing costume ?

An hour later Draco was standing on the patio just after sunset while Hermione was getting ready for dinner. He fingered the small velvet box in his pocket… then tugged at his tie. It was a bit tight. And it was really quite warm even though the sun had gone down already. Fuck it: he was nervous. He, Draco Lucius Malfoy, was nervous about asking a Muggleborn witch to marry him. Oh how he'd love to go back and tell his younger self what he was about to do. He pictured his father's face when he heard the news. It might just kill him, good old Lucius.

He started pacing. Why was he nervous? He wanted to marry her and she wanted to marry him, they'd talked about it ages ago and agreed they would someday. What if it wasn't someday yet? Was she going to go all independent female on him and say no? He grimaced; that might be possible. She was ridiculously independent. He ran his damp palms down the legs of his trousers then looked at them as if they were traitors. What the fuck? Malfoys did not sweat. He did not sweat. Merlin's balls, at this rate he was going to have to take a Calming Draught. Why the fuck was he so nervous? He unbuttoned his jacket and continued pacing. When should he do it? After dinner? During dinner? He didn't know how to do this… in pureblood courtships the fathers took care of business, all he would've had to do was show up for the wedding. This was obviously a better option, but still. Now he had to stick his neck out and be vulnerable. She could say no… she wouldn't say no. She wouldn't. If she asked for fucking time to think he would wring her neck. That would be such a Granger thing to do. He cast his eyes heavenward and sighed. He'd bet a load of galleons that she was going to ask him for time to think about it. Hadn't they been together two years? That should be plenty of time to think about it. He sighed again and felt the sand grind under his shoe as he turned on his heel, still pacing. He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated at himself. He forced himself to stop pacing and turned to watch a boat drift lazily by on the water. The moon had just come out and it's nearly full reflection shone on the water. He looked at his watch, she'd been in the bathroom nearly an hour. Always fussing with that hair, she had a complex about it. Of course it was probably his fault; no one harassed her about it as much as he had. Sometimes he wondered how she could forgive him for all that.

He resumed his pacing. Trying to find where the hell his courage had gone and to convince himself of what he already knew: she would say yes. Maybe after she thought about it, but she would say yes.

Sometime later her voice broke through his thoughts. "Are you… pacing? What's the matter?"

He turned and saw her descending the steps out onto the patio from the second floor balcony off their bedroom. He could just make her out in the moonlight. Her hair was down again; she knew he liked it that way. Long curls own to her elbows. He took a deep breath, nearly laughing at himself. He was freaking out about nothing: this was Hermione. Yeah, she might ask him for some time to think it over but they'd already decided they wanted to spend their lives together. He was acting like Potter here, all twitchy and emotional. He was fingering the box in his pocket again as she stepped off the stairs and came towards him.

"Did you hear me? What's the matter?" She smiled with a bit of concern around the edges. Oops, he'd completely forgotten to answer her question.

He closed the distance between them, plunged a hand into her hair, tipped her head back and kissed her soundly. She hummed a little in her throat and he pulled her closer. They wouldn't make it to dinner at this rate he thought after a few breathless moments. He pulled back and looked down with satisfaction at her far away eyes. She smiled lazily and he pressed another kiss to her red lips.

"I love you." He said quietly.

Her smile brightened and her gaze focused on him. "I love you, too."

He stared down at her for a moment or two, caressing her cheek with his thumb. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He didn't need a fancy dinner for this. He took a slow breath, looking down into her eyes. "Marry me." He said quietly.

She blinked. "What?"

He kissed her again, softly, and drew back. "Marry me," he repeated.

She swallowed, took a shaky breath and asked, "Isn't that supposed to be in the form of question?"

He started to roll his eyes, but decided he probably should ask nicely instead of just telling her to. He released her and reached into his pocket. Her eyes went even wider when she saw the box in his hand.

She covered her mouth with her hands as he lifted the box and opened it, "Hermione, will you marry me?"


	6. If You See Her Say Hello

A/N: sorry for the cliff hanger! Here's a quick chapter to make up for my meanness. :)

* * *

She covered her mouth with her hands as he lifted the box and opened it, "Hermione, will you marry me?"

She looked up at Draco, her eyes darting between his face and the ring in his hand. She felt frozen; he'd caught her totally off guard. She needed to answer him, wanted to answer him, but couldn't get her body to cooperate. After a brief moment he held out his hand for hers in a silent question. She blinked rapidly as her vision became obstructed by tears. She lowered her shaking left hand and he grasped it in his. The tears thickened when realized that his hand wasn't entirely steady either. He'd removed the ring from the box while she was standing there petrified and held her left hand in his right and the ring in the other. He raised an eyebrow. He was still waiting.

She dropped her other hand from her mouth to her throat and rushed out "Yes! Of course, yes!" It was a strangled whisper but she'd still gotten it out. She watched with wide eyes as his lips curved in the slightest smile and he slid the ring onto her finger. Draco had just proposed to her. Oh Merlin, her heart was about to pound out of her chest. She'd known they were headed in this direction, obviously, but it was a whole other thing to have it actually happen. She stared at him in wonder for a moment. She and Draco were getting married. Married! She launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and burying her face in the crook of his neck. He caught her and held her tight.

"I love you so much." She whispered, her tears getting the better of her and sliding down her cheeks. She leaned back to look into his eyes and saw more emotion there than he'd ever allowed before.

"I love you, too. Always." He kissed her so sweetly that her tears doubled. She pulled away with half a laugh to wipe her face dry.

"I'm sorry..." He said softly.

"What on earth for?" She asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"For how late your dinner is going to be." He said and gave her two heartbeats to work it out before his lips crashed into hers and he carried her into the house.

Her laugh turned in to something like a moan when his mood came over her as well. Her legs were still wrapped around his waist and her hands were now fisted in his hair.

Eventually they made it back to the bedroom, her dress and bra left somewhere behind them, and collapsed onto the bed. She frantically worked the buttons on his shirt while his hands roved over her exposed skin, sending shivers along her spine. She finally got all the buttons open and pushed the fabric off his shoulders, he leaned back on his knees to unbutton the cuffs and free his hands. He stared down at her, his eyes dark, hair mussed, lips swollen and parted. He was hers. She smiled and ran her hand down his hard stomach and worked on his belt while he shrugged out of his shirt.

"Hang on; I've still got my fucking shoes on." He laughed at their impatience and stood up to remove his shoes.

She giggled, "Me too." His movements stopped and his eyes roved down her legs and came to rest on the sky high black heels she'd put on to go to dinner.

"Leave them." He ordered with a smirk; his voice lower than usual.

She smiled slowly at him. "Yes sir." She left the shoes but wiggled out of her knickers.

He gave her a smirk that would melt the coldest heart and after removing the rest of his clothing lowered himself back to the bed. She felt heat begin to pulse through her: he was looking at her like she was edible. Oh my.

He supported his weight on one arm above her and stared into her eyes as he ran his hand from her ankle up her calf and higher. Her eyes closed as his hand traveled all the way up her leg, not stopping until he met the juncture of her thighs. They both released a breath when his fingers found her. His lips and teeth trailed across her neck and collar bone as his hand touched and teased. She writhed against him and ran a hand down his shoulder, feeling the muscles of his chest and stomach until her fingers wrapped around him. With her other hand she pushed on his shoulder and nudged him over, he followed her request and rolled over to lay on his back. She grinned to herself; she liked to be in charge every now and again. She straddled his hips and leaned down to graze kisses across his stubbly jaw. His hands roamed across her skin and he moved encouragingly against her. Bracing her hands against his chest she lifted her hips and slid down onto him. They both made sounds of pleasure and her head fell back. She began to move slowly and his hands continued to touch and excite. She felt his hand cup her cheek and she looked down at him with hooded eyes. Draco was a different person when they made love. The expression on his face was so open and unguarded that it made her heart ache. She knew that he only truly dropped those walls with her and the fact that a man as scarred as he would trust her so implicitly moved her in ways she couldn't explain. She leaned down to kiss him, overwhelmed for the moment with the depth of emotion that he stirred in her.

"I love you." She whispered against his lips.

"Mm, I love you too." He said before resuming the kiss.

She willed herself to turn off her mind and lose herself in the emotions and sensations of being with Draco. Their eyes locked and they watched each other as their passion climbed higher until it peaked, Hermione's tears never quite drying on her cheeks as a new one would escape as the last one dried.

The weekend passed swiftly in a happy haze. Late Sunday afternoon they were gathering their things to go back home.

"When do you want to tell everyone?" She asked, smiling happily as she folded a pair of jeans and tucked them into her bag.

"Well, our parents already know that I was going to ask, they just didn't know when." He answered.

"You asked my parents?" She asked with a tone of surprise.

He looked up warily, worried she would be irritated. "Yeah."

To his relief she just stood on her toes and kissed him. "Thank you. That meant a lot to them I'm sure."

"I guess we'll need to tell everyone soon, you know how people are taking our photos everywhere we go, we don't want anyone important to read about it in the Prophet."

"Ugh, that's very true. I guess we'll just start flooing people tomorrow. I won't leave the house with the ring on until we tell them all." She paused in her folding. "Are you going to tell your father yourself?"

He shrugged like he didn't care, but she saw his jaw muscles flex. She was going to let it go and had returned to her folding when he spoke up. "I may write to him. I know what he'll say. We both do. There's no sense having to listen to him go on about it." He tossed a shirt into the bag. "And if I got tell him in person he'll think I'm there to ask for his permission, which is obviously not the case. I don't want him to feel like he's got that power, that much influence on my life." She didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing at all. The concept of an awful father was entirely foreign to her.

Suddenly he laughed, "What if we had our parents, excluding my father, over for dinner one night this week? How do you think that would go?"

"All of them? All three? At the same time?" She asked, surprised.

"Sure, why not?"

"Erm, my parents are muggles… What would your mother do?"

"I don't know. But they have to learn to get along at some point, right?" He shrugged. She looked at him like he'd gone daft. "I can pretty much guarantee that it will be hilarious."

Hermione followed Draco through the floo but found herself thrust roughly behind him when she tried to step out. She knocked her elbow on the bricks trying to catch her balance.

"Ouch! What's wrong?" She asked, quietly. He hadn't shielded her like this in two years…

He didn't move a muscle for a moment and they both listened for any unusual sounds. She still couldn't see what had made him worry; his broad shoulders blocked her from seeing anything.

"Someone's been in here. Hominem Revelio" He whispered, after a moment his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. "They're gone now…." She moved out from behind him and saw that the lock on the front door was blasted out and the sofa cushions were strewn about the room, a stack of post was also scattered across the floor.

"Did you set the wards before we left?" She asked moving into the room and surveying the damage.

"No, I thought you did." He said slowly.

"Well, there's our first problem. No, that's the second problem; the first problem is that someone broke in!" She stamped her foot. She gasped and looked down the hall, "Crookshanks!" Her gaze swiveled and met his. "He always greets us when we get home…" Dread curled in her stomach, if something happened to him, she would be extremely upset. She moved quickly and cautiously down the hall, checking his favorite hiding places as she went. There were signs of the intruder everywhere she looked. Nothing seemed destroyed, just disheveled.

Finally she peered under their bed and saw his yellow eyes blinking balefully at her. "Crookshanks! Hey baby, come here. You can come out, the bad guy's gone." She crooned to him, trying to convince him to come out, there was no way she could extricate him if he wasn't willing. He meowed pitifully and slowly crawled towards her. She noticed he was favoring one of his paws. "I think he's hurt!" She called frantically to Draco, who was actually only a few feet away watching her coax the cat out from under the bed. He had hated that creature initially, well he'd hated everything initially, but soon discovered that the cat was much more intelligent than he looked and he'd even caught himself talking to it every now and then.

Crookshanks finally made it to Hermione and she carefully examined a bloody front paw. "It looks like he's torn out a claw!" She said, worriedly. But Draco was looking at the scorch marks on his tail.

"Why don't you get him to that Magical Menagerie place in Diagon Alley. Look at his tail, love." He said softly.

She gasped in outrage. "His fur is all singed! Are those burn marks? From curses!? Why would someone try to hurt him?" She looked up at him in question, holding Crookshanks tenderly.

"Well, if he ripped out a claw I'd say he did it on the fucker that broke in here! Crookshanks is a beast, I'd curse him too if he were after me." He moved about the room looking for anything else that had been disturbed. "I want you to go to Potter's; get Ginny to go with you to get the cat checked out. Tell Potter to come over here and help me try to figure out who the fuck did this." His voice was quiet, but it nearly sizzled with anger.

She nodded, clutching the cat to her chest. They both walked into the living room to the front door and she turned down the hallway. Apparently she didn't want to floo with Crookshanks. Fewer than thirty seconds later Draco was examining the front door when Potter walked up.

"Hermione said someone broke in?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Looks that way. We've been back less than five minutes, I haven't found anything useful. She and Ginny are dealing with the beast?" If he wasn't so pissed off he'd have smirked; it seemed Crookshanks had just earned a new nickname.

"Yeah, she won't come back til he's sorted out; you know she's mad for that furball." He walked up to Draco who was still examining the door. "Did someone blast it in? Not very subtle. We didn't hear anything, but we're down around the corner."

"Yeah, looks like it. Something similar anyways. They managed to repair it so that it would close properly again." He closed the door as if to prove his point.

After a moment of staring at the door in silent contemplation Harry spoke up. "This is what scares me: who the fuck could've gotten past your and Hermione's wards? Between the two of you this place is more secure than Gringotts." He paced away, running his fingers through his ever messy hair.

Draco heaved a frustrated sigh. "Apparently we left them down." He held up his hands as Harry spun around incredulous. "I know, I know. It was stupid. I thought she did them and she thought I did them. We were just excited I guess… I'd just passed the WELP and she'd just gotten the first copy of the potions book."

"You didn't set your wards?" Harry repeated as though dazed.

"No, Potter. We didn't. We left this place as secure as any of the other muggle flats in here, just the deadbolt in the door. Fucking hell." He kicked the sofa unenthusiastically. "What are the chances that some wizard just happened to try to get in the one time we leave the wards down?"

"D'you think someone's been watching? D'you think they've tried to get in before?" Harry stopped his pacing and stared hard at Draco.

"I don't know. But it seems a wild coincidence to me that this happens the one time  
we've left the wards down since we've been here. You know how obsessive we are about it, you're the same way."

"Bugger." Harry heaved a sigh.

"I should tell you… I asked Hermione to marry me on Friday night." He almost laughed at the look on Harry's face. "She said yes."

"Oh… well, congratulations mate. It's been long enough." Harry said awkwardly.

"I'm not telling you for congratulations, Potter! What if someone found out already? What if that's what triggered this?"

"…Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' There are a lot of purebloods who'd hate to see the Malfoy heir marry a Muggleborn." Draco said bitterly.

"How could they know? You were in France weren't you?" Harry asked, hoping that had nothing to do with this.

"Yeah we were in France, but I did it outside on the patio. There are wards, but if someone wasn't attempting to cross them, only look through them… that might actually be done. Fuck, I never thought of that. I was only worried about keeping people out. I mean there are simple ones to make the property invisible and all, but if you knew it was there…." He trailed off and his eyes unfocused as he pondered what it would take to make the property visible.

"I think we should call the aurors." Draco started to protest but Harry continued over him, "This is a muggle building. It wasn't just chance that there was a wizard burglary here. They knew whose flat this was. You're both awfully high profile. And you're right, there are a lot of people still out there who don't want to see you marry Hermione."

"Ugh, you're right, dammit. You know everyone over there, find someone you trust and get them here." He gestured Harry to the floo. "I'm going to see if anything's been taken."

It took two hours for the aurors to inspect the flat and take statements from everyone. Hermione and Ginny had come back with Crookshanks in time to give their statements and a list of curses the pet healer had detected in his fur. It seemed that the singeing had been done by a Killing Curse. There were also traces of a Stunner. Luckily it appeared that either Crookshanks was extremely evasive or the culprit had extremely poor aim.

Unfortunately, the aurors hadn't found any sort of evidence left by whomever had been in the flat.

"Erm, have you seen this?" A young auror in training asked the room at large, pointing to their new photo on the mantle. The aurors were gathered in the living room about to depart through the floo.

There was a surge as everyone in the room made to get a look at it. Hermione gasped when she got close enough to see that the glass of the frame had been written on and their faces were blacked out. Across the glass in large block letters two words were scrawled: THEIR FAULT


	7. Shelter From the Storm

Perviously on Threat: Unknown...

_"Erm, have you seen this?" A young auror in training asked the room at large, pointing to their new photo on the mantle. The aurors were gathered in the living room about to depart through the floo._

_There was a surge as everyone in the room made to get a look at it. Hermione gasped when she got close enough to see that the glass of the frame had been written on and their faces were blacked out. Across the glass in large block letters two words were scrawled: THEIR FAULT_

* * *

It seemed that everyone in the room had read it at the same time. There was a collective inhale, which every man in the room released as the same word: "Fuck."

They had suspected before, but now they _knew_ that this was not random. It was quite personal. There was a flurry of activity as the frame was passed amongst the aurors and they debated the significance of the message. Hermione tuned them out and wished they would just leave.

In another half hour all the aurors had cleared out, but not before Harry threatened them with all sorts of things if word got out about the break in or the engagement.

"Alright, why don't the two of you stay the night at our place? We'll get this sorted out tomorrow, yeah?" He gestured to the mess that the intruder had left, which the aurors had added to while they were there.

"Yeah, alright." Draco said wearily, after Hermione nodded mutely. He took a couple steps over to her and pulled her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and they stood together in silence a moment.

"Come when you're ready. You know where we are." Ginny spoke up and tugged Harry to the door since they'd blocked the floo after the aurors had departed.

Hermione clung to Draco a little tighter; she was beginning to feel overwhelmed. "Someone was in our home. They went through our things." She whispered.

He rested his chin on her head. "It's a weird feeling, isn't it? Sort of…"

"Violating." She finished for him. It seemed dramatic, but that's exactly the way she felt about it. Some unknown person had come into her home, her sanctuary, the place where she was supposed to be safe. They stood in her bedroom, they knew where she slept. How could she sleep in that room again, knowing that some stranger had stood there? Had he sat on the bed? Laid in it? Put his head on her pillow? She shuddered slightly. That thought was extremely disturbing.

She kept seeing that photo in her mind with their faces blacked out… it felt like a threat. A blatant threat, like the person wanted to erase her existence. She shivered. "Let's get some clothes and go to Harry's. I just want out of here."

A few minutes later the door to the Potter's flat was opened by Ginny. "I'm making shepherd's pie; I assumed you haven't eaten…"

"We haven't, that'd be brilliant, thanks." Hermione said quietly.

Ginny took her by the shoulders and led her to the bedroom. "Why don't you put on some pajamas and I'll make you a cup of tea. Are you alright?"

"I think so… it's just a shock I guess. I don't know how to explain it properly." She shrugged and toed off her shoes.

"Do you want me to distract you or would you like to wallow for a bit?" Ginny asked and made Hermione smile: only another woman would understand that sometimes you just needed a good wallow.

"No, please, distract me!" She pulled a pair of worn sweat pants out of her bag and tossed them onto the bed.

"Thank Merlin! Let me see that ring, woman!" Ginny held out her hand impatiently.

"Oh! I can't believe that we haven't even gotten to talk about it!" She thrust her hand out for Ginny to examine the ring. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Wow, this isn't what I would've expected of a Malfoy ring." Ginny turned it this way and that to admire the sparkle.

"I doubt it's a Malfoy ring." Hermione said quietly. Ginny looked up, confused. "If there was ever a family who put curses on the family rings to ensure no one but purebloods could wear them, it was the Malfoys."

"Oh. I suppose you're right." She cleared her throat. "Well, they're probably all big and super old fashioned. This one suits you better than an heirloom would. This ring is from him to you, without involving his nasty elitist ancestors."

Hermione nodded and looked down at the ring on her finger. "You're right."

"So how'd he do it?" Ginny asked, trying to lighten the mood again.

Hermione gave a quick laugh, "he told me to marry him."

Ginny gasped out a laugh, "No he did not."

"He did." She asserted.

"Typical." Ginny grinned.

"Yeah, but then I made him ask." She smiled. "He just said 'Hermione, will you marry me?' Nothing fancy, no emotional speech or anything."

"Well that's alright. You two already know how you feel about each other; he didn't need to spell it out. Those super-emotional things sort of make me gag anyways." Ginny asserted finally releasing Hermione's hand.

I the kitchen Draco leaned on the counter as Harry rooted around in the cupboard. "I hope you're after some firewhiskey."

"Indeed I am." He got the bottle down and two short glasses. He poured them two fingers each. "Here's to coming home celebrating only to find a clusterfuck." Harry raised his glass and Draco let out a dry laugh and followed suit. They downed the whiskey and set their glasses on the counter.

Draco looked at Harry. "One more?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "What are we toasting to this time?" He poured more.

"Hm. How about me beating the shit out of the fucker that broke into my flat?"

"To the fucker." Harry raised his glass.

"The fucker." Draco repeated and they both tossed back their glasses. "And his beating." Draco finished as his glass clinked on the countertop.

After dinner Hermione and Draco settled into the Potter's guest bedroom for the evening. Hermione lay with her head resting on Draco's bare chest and he played with her hair. She traced random patterns on his pale skin. "I hate that our good news was ruined by this." She sighed.

"I do, too."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again. "How long will it take before it feels safe in there again?"

He sighed. "I don't know, love." When she didn't reply he continued. "We're never going to leave those wards down again. I guarantee that the two of us are smarter than whoever did this and he'll never get to us again." She nodded even though her confidence wasn't very high. He tugged lightly on a lock of hair, "Hell, we can just move if you want."

"We'll deal with it tomorrow." She wrapped her arm around his stomach. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

The next morning the four of them sat around the table eating a sleepy breakfast. True to her Weasley roots, Ginny was really turning out to be fantastic cook. An owl flew in the open kitchen window and perched on the counter, the rolled up paper attached to its leg. Harry got up and paid him and picked up the paper. The other three paid him little attention as none of them were fully awake yet. He unrolled the paper and shook it out. Suddenly, he slammed the paper to the tabletop and the three of them jumped and stared at him. He looked at Draco for a moment then his eyes swiveled to Hermione.

He swallowed and said, "Hermione… I'm sorry." Her gaze hardened and she held her hand out for the paper. He hesitated for a moment but handed it to her before she snatched it from him.

She smoothed out the wrinkles where Harry'd crumpled it and laid it down on the table between herself and Draco. She felt the blood drain from her face when she read the headline and the accompanying photo.

_**Reformed Death Eater and War Heroine Engaged!**_

_By: Me, Myself, and I correspondent, Rita Skeeter_

_Heir to the Malfoy fortune Draco Lucius Malfoy and Muggleborn War Heroine Hermione Granger are engaged to be married!_

_An source close to the couple has confirmed the authenticity of this photo, which is clearly young Mr. Malfoy proposing to Miss Granger and her subsequent acceptance, taken last Friday at the Malfoy chateau in Southern France. While the source wishes to remain unnamed, rest assured that this person has very close ties to the couple. Granger, 23 and Malfoy, 22 have been very private about their relationship and little is known about them. What is known was only discovered through statements and testimony given about the war and their contributions to You Know Who's downfall._

_Through statements given by Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley, it is known that Malfoy and Granger were thrown together almost two months before the Battle of Hogwarts when Granger, Potter, and Weasley were captured and brought to Malfoy Manor to be turned over to You Know Who. Bellatrix Lestrange then took it upon herself to torture Ms. Granger with the Cruciatus Curse. It has been speculated that Ms. Granger begged Draco Malfoy to save her, promising to reward his kindness with sexual favors. Neither Granger nor Malfoy has given a statement to the media on this subject, but when questioned on this topic one day in Diagon Alley the young witch snapped, "How could I have done? I was unconscious!" Despite his questionable motivations, their testimonies all state that Mr. Malfoy did indeed save Granger after Harry Potter and Weasley escaped. He subsequently left You Know Who's service and went on the run with her. It is known that Mr. Malfoy did help with the discovery and destruction of two of YKW's horcruxes. It is believed that Granger did not aid in the destruction of any herself, but that she was the guiding force behind Harry Potter's year on the lam. What activities she Mr. Potter and or Mr. Weasley engaged in the year before the addition of Mr. Malfoy still causes speculation. Was Harry Potter aware when she began seeing Mr. Malfoy? Did Malfoy know that she had been with Potter and perhaps Weasley? With the tight-lipped tendencies of all parties involved, it is unlikely that we'll ever know._

_The latest rumour states that Ms. Granger has finally found a way to put her bookish nature to good use and is working on writing her account of the wizard wars. It will be interesting to see how, or if, she addresses the unlikely relationships between herself and these three handsome heroes._

_Mr. Potter has since gone on to marry childhood sweetheart Ginny Weasley, sister to Ronald Weasley. The young Mrs. Potter continues to decline answering questions about her husband and Ms. Granger's illicit past. Mr. Weasley has become Britain's most eligible wizard and escorts a different witch to each function he attends._

_There is no word yet on a wedding date or further plans from the young couple._

_On behalf of the Daily Prophet and witches and wizards everywhere, I wish Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger all the happiness and prosperity due to two of wizard kind's bravest war heroes. _

Hermione blinked slowly at the photo after she finished reading. The photo was clearly Draco holding a ring out to her. Her photographic-self held out her hand and nodded vigorously at him. Photo Draco slid the ring on her finger then she threw herself into his arms. The photo was of poorer quality than most though… almost as though it were taken through dirty class or from a great distance.

She looked up at Draco and saw that his jaw was clenched. She propped her elbows on the table and lowered her head to her hands. Who took this photo? Why did they go to the Prophet with it? Money?

"That cow! I can't believe she said you all were having some illicit affair! Bloody hell..." Ginny complained, outraged. The other three grumbled similar responses about not being very surprised at Skeeter's audacity.

Draco gestured to the photo. "He obviously managed to manipulate the wards to let him see through them. That's why the photo's hazy, the wards are still there and are distorting it somewhat, but he was still able to see us. Dammit, that was private!" Hermione felt his hand on her knee and was grateful for his reassuring squeeze.

"What do we do now?" She asked quietly.

Harry spoke up. "I'm going in to the auror office. They need to know and they need to get to Skeeter and see where she got that damn photo." He stood and put his plate in the sink. "Gin, I reckon you better go calm your mum down. She's going to have kittens if she's read it in the paper, tell her they were planning on telling her this week."

Draco groaned. "I'd better owl my mum. Your parents don't take the prophet, do they?" He asked.

She shook her head. This was a nightmare. Who had taken their photo? Who had even known where they were apart from Ginny and Harry?

"Are you alright, love?" Draco asked quietly, turning in his chair to face her.

She sighed. "I don't know. I mean yeah, it bothers me that she wrote that and that someone sold the photo to the Prophet, but someone took this photo. Someone knew we were there, and knew how to get through the wards. How could they have found out? The only people who knew we were going are in this kitchen!" She gestured to the four of them.

"Malfoy… I'm not trying to piss you off, but I have to ask: are there spells on the Malfoy properties to let the head of the family know when someone comes or goes or something?"

Draco paused and stared thoughtfully at Harry. "If he were there he would feel it, but yeah- only if he was in the house at the time. I can't imagine that any former Death Eater did this… I mean, why would they want to advertise it? They'll want to do something to prevent it, not let the world know. Right?"

"Unless they've got some ulterior motive… I can't think of anything though." Harry raked his fingers through his hair. Alright. I'll be back soon; I'll let you know what they say."

"I'm coming with you, Potter." Draco said to Harry and everyone stood to go get dressed.

Hermione let Draco go with Harry to deal with Rita and trying to find the source of the photo. Ginny gave her a tight hug.

"We'll get it figured out." Ginny promised. She sighed and nodded. Ginny headed for the floo to go explain to Mrs. Weasley why she read about Hermione's engagement in the paper, Hermione left by the front door to head down the hall to her flat.

She sighed as she unlocked the front door and the mess left by the intruder and aurors was there to greet her. She put on some music and began to go through their belongings that we strewn about the flat. She was doing it by hand because she wanted to be sure nothing was taken, if she cleaned up with magic she might not notice something missing. She heaved another sigh and got to work. A strange depression had descended on her when they discovered the state of their flat last night and she was having trouble shaking it. She could hardly define it to herself much less explain it to someone else, but the thought of someone in their apartment had really disturbed her. This was their private, personal space where they were supposed to be safe from the outside world. They had moved to Muggle London on purpose: they wanted to be away from prying eyes and people who were interested in the relationship between the reformed Death Eater and the Muggleborn war heroine. Not many wizards knew where they lived and fewer still were willing to linger on the muggle street to try and take photos or catch glimpses of her and Draco.

And now the thing with the photo of them in France… she couldn't figure out how someone had known where they were. Was it the same person or persons who had broken into the flat?

She'd been sitting in the floor staring into space for several minutes when she blinked and came back to reality. She stood up and put the papers she'd picked up away, then looked down at the diamond gleaming on her hand. A smile tugged at her lips as she ran her thumb across it. It really was stunning. An emerald-cut diamond at least two carats in weight was set in platinum with small diamonds set into the band. The light refraction off of the facets of the stones was mesmerizing. She didn't want to know how much he'd spent on it, but the girly-girl in her appreciated every galleon. Her smile grew a little brighter as she remembered finding him pacing and then his unsteady hand when he'd slid the ring onto her finger. It was sweet and surprising that he'd been nervous to ask her. She took a deep breath and tried to put things in perspective: she'd survived a war against some of the most dangerous wizards and witches in history. Whoever this creep was that was messing with them was nothing they couldn't handle. She'd found the love of her life and he'd just proposed to her. Her future was looking brilliant. She and Draco had survived some terrible times, they could handle anything.

Feeling a bit better, she set to work cleaning up the bed and bathroom. The glint from her ring distracted her every few minutes and her mood lifted bit by bit as she went on.

It took her several hours to put everything away and just as she was finishing up in the bedroom she heard the front door open and Harry and Draco's bickering voices enter the flat.

She got up and walked down the hall to see what the fuss was about. She entered the living room to see Harry, who looked like a family of mice had taken up residence in his hair and Draco, who had red patches high on his pale cheeks.

"What did you find out?" She asked, cutting across their bickering. Both men looked up at her and seemed to hesitate.

Draco finally spoke up. "Skeeter said it was Weasley who sold her the photo." He said quietly.

"Ron?" She asked incredulously. "No." She shook her head. "He wouldn't do that to me." She looked to Harry for support.

"I don't think he would either. Plus, I'm pretty sure Gabrielle was visiting him this weekend, he'd have had more… entertaining things to do than follow you two around and mess up your place." Harry asserted.

As Draco opened his mouth to argue Hermione spoke up, "So they think it was the same person then?"

"That or people working together." Harry asserted. Then he looked uncomfortably at Draco. "They suspect that Lucius may be organizing something from prison."

Hermione gaped for a moment, watching Draco's jaw muscles flex. "But that doesn't make any sense. The last thing he'd want to do is publish the fact that his son is marrying a mudblood." Draco nodded and threw his hand out, shooting a look that clearly said he's said the same thing to Harry aready,

"Well…" Harry hesitated yet again. "They think it might be a political move to repair the public opinion of the Malfoy name by capitalizing on the relationship between Draco and the much-adored war heroine."

A beat of silence greeted Harry's words and she looked between the two. Surely he wasn't serious. She focused on Draco. "If that's true he moved awfully fast. He would've had to have known ahead of time where we were going and that he was going to propose."

"There's no fucking way he knew. I've had the ring for weeks and decided on Friday to propose to her. I decided to on Friday evening when I got home, I asked her two hours later and we told no one until I told you standing right here yesterday.

Harry started to reply but Hermione loudly interrupted. "Hang on! Back up! Why did Rita say it was Ron?"

The men stared at her strangely for the random question but Draco answered, "She said he came to the office and showed her the photos, wanted to sell them."

"Are we agreeing that it wasn't Ron because one: he wouldn't, and two: he was with Gabrielle?" She asked quickly.

Harry nodded and Draco hesitated before he said "I'd like some confirmation first, but yeah that's what I'm leaning towards. As big a prat as he can be, I don't think he's stoop so low."

"Then how would someone looking like Ron waltz into the Daily Prophet? Polyjuice? This was pre-meditated then. Polyjuice takes a full month to brew and they'd have had to get hair from him."

* * *

A/N: Alright, y'all. I randomly got a little down about this story the last couple of weeks and almost debated abandoning it. I'm not gonna do that, but send me some love and hopefully I can get my ass in gear and get on with it. I love these characters, I just need to find some motivation to finish their story.


	8. Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts

Harry and Draco ceased the bickering at Hermione's statement and all three stood silent for a moment.

"The aurors are bringing Ron in to give a statement right now, but I still don't think he did it." Harry said, scratching his head.

"You know, it wouldn't necessarily take a full month of preparation though, you can buy Polyjuice potion down Knockturn Alley if you know who to ask and where to look." Draco said as though he hadn't heard Harry. Hermione pondered over this, opting not to think about how he knew this. Hopefully this person had gone that route and purchased it and not spent over a month planning the break in and visit to France.

"Well, we'd have to assume that they bought it or just happened to have some already, because how would they have known to have it ready to go to the Prophet and sell the photo? No one knew when you were going to propose."

"This is fucking ridiculous. Let's go back down there and talk to the aurors and see what Weasley has to say."

"No, let's just let them do their job. Harry, why don't you go and wait until they're finished with him then ask him to come over. Floo the Burrow and check on Ginny before you go. I'm going to the market." She grabbed her purse and market bag and headed for the front door. She was over this whole situation and had to get out of there. So. Over. It. She knew Draco and Harry were exchanging looks over her head, but she didn't care. She just needed thirty minutes out of the flat to get away from the issue. She didn't want to fall back into the funk she'd been in for most of the day. "I'll be back in a half hour." She sent a small smile to her two favorite men and shut the door behind her. Stepping into the lift she closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders. Giving herself a mental kick in the pants she told herself to snap out of it, she'd survived way worse than this. This was annoying, not horrible. Not life threatening. Just annoying. _Put on your big girl nickers and deal with it_. She blew out a breath and forced herself to think about what to cook for dinner.

Exiting their building she smiled to the doorman and headed to the small market on the corner. She stood at the curb watching the traffic stream by and waited to cross the street. She was slightly annoyed with the traffic… maybe they'd move out of the city someday. She wouldn't want to raise kids without somewhere for them to run and play. Come to think of it, she and Draco had only talked about children in the abstract… she pictured a little boy with curly blond hair and a Malfoy smirk and couldn't stop her grin. They'd have to talk about that and make sure they were on the same page about kids. She felt pretty certain that he wanted children… he was good with Scorpius. Well he was good now. Her grin widened as she crossed the street and remembered his initial interactions with the infant.

_They left for St. Mungo's immediately upon getting word that Narcissa had gone into labor and after several tedious hours in the waiting room they were finally been taken back to see a tired but obviously happy Narcissa holding Scorpius who was completely wrapped in blankets. Hermione rushed excitedly in while Draco had entered slowly, obviously a bit unsure of what he was supposed to do. She quickly and gently embraced Narcissa and cooed at the baby. She and Narcissa had bonded during her pregnancy; because of Narcissa's reduced social circle and Lucius being incarcerated, she really had no one to spend time with. Hermione had wanted to have a better relationship with her and had invited her out to lunch and baby shopping and had been pleasantly surprised at Narcissa's quick acceptance of the offer. She was glad they'd finally become something close to friends. It had been awkward and stiff at first, but they'd gotten past it. She stepped aside and motioned Draco to take her place beside his mother._

_He cleared his throat. "You okay, Mum?" He asked quietly, kissing her on the forehead._

_Narcissa nodded, "Come say hello to your brother." She smiled down at the baby. _

_Draco leaned down and moved the blanket aside to get a better look at the baby and after a moment he said, "He's very…. red."_

_Narcissa laughed softly, "It's a newborn thing. He'll look better in a day or two." She traced her finger down his cheek._

_"He's so small." Draco leaned a little closer and touched Scorpius' tiny fist that was curled around the blanket. The infant let go of the blanket and wrapped his little fingers around his brother's larger one. She watched Draco's face register surprise and something else and he traced his thumb across the tops of the tiny fingers clutching his. Her heart melted just a bit. Okay, more than a bit. This was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen._

_She stood back and watched the family bond. After a moment Narcissa looked up at her oldest son. "Would you like to hold him?"_

_"Oh, I, Uh…. No. He's so bloody small! I'd break him." He straightened and looked at his mother like she'd grown a second head._

_She laughed lightly. "No you wouldn't, but I'll let you wait a few days. Would you like to hold him, Hermione?" She asked looking around Draco._

_"I'd love to!" She stepped forward and gently took the baby when Narcissa offered him. She had some experience with babies; her mum's best friend had adopted a baby the summer after fourth year and she'd loved playing with her. "Hi, Scorpius." She whispered and ran her palm over the soft blond fuzz on his head. Narcissa had decided almost immediately on the name as she knew that the baby would be a boy because of the potion Voldemort had given her. She and Lucius had apparently chosen the name for Draco's son when that day came and had decided to use it for their unexpected second child. She hoped that Narcissa would realize that she and Draco would not allow someone else to name any children they would have and it wouldn't be an issue._

_Narcissa and Scorpius had been released the following morning, she and Draco brought over some of Narcissa's favorite sweets from a bakery in Diagon Alley. When they arrived they found Narcissa pacing her sitting room holding the sleeping baby. She looked up at their knock._

_"Hi kids, come in." She smiled at them. "Draco," they met in the center of the room and she kissed his cheek. "Take your brother for a few minutes; I'm going to take a bath. I've been longing for one for hours, I've been quite uncomfortable." She held Scorpius out and Draco automatically held his arms out, but his face showed a high level of alarm._

_"N- but, Mum… Give him to Hermione!" But it was too late; Narcissa had deposited him gently into Draco's arms._

_"Support his head dear, I'll be back in half an hour." _

_"Half an hour?!" He whispered urgently, not wanting to wake the baby. Narcissa smiled sweetly at him and turned toward the bathroom. She cut her eyes at Hermione and sent her a small wink. _

_Hermione stifled her smile. "Take as long as you like." _

_All was quiet for the better part of twenty minutes; Draco had taken a seat and was looking a bit more relaxed with his little brother. But suddenly Scorpius screwed up his little face and squirmed… and a horrendous noise erupted from him and Draco jerked in his seat._

_"Bloody hell! His arse just exploded! I FELT it in my hand!" He looked alarmed and held the baby as far away from his body as possible and still hold him securely._

_Hermione doubled over in laughter, which only made Draco's shocked face turn annoyed._

_"How is that even possible? There shouldn't be that much force in such a tiny body! What's wrong with him? That can't be normal!" He stood up and held him out to Hermione. She shook her head at him and kept laughing until her eyes watered. He was getting more frantic by the moment. Finally she took pity on him and took Scorpius, Draco vacated the room immediately and she changed the nappy._

Hermione smiled at the memory as she picked up some fish and potatoes for fish and chips. Draco had eventually changed a few nappies and when Scorpius had grown enough to sit up on his own he'd felt much more comfortable with him. They had set up a crib in the guest bedroom and Scorp spent the night with them every now and again. He was a delightful child, Narcissa spoiled him but that was to be expected.

She paid for her fish and headed back up the street. Her mind still on babies she wondered how long Harry and Ginny would wait before they started their family. She knew that they both wanted nothing more than a family. Harry was looking forward to having what he hadn't had as a child: a true family, not just his honorary Weasley family, but his own true flesh and blood family. Maybe she and Draco could talk about their own future family tonight. Her mood improved by her reminisces and thoughts of a happy future she went back to the loft without the heavy heart that she left with.

When she entered the kitchen she found Harry and Ron sitting at the table and Draco leaning grumpily against the counter. She wondered if they'd been arguing before she came in. She decided to ignore that possibility and squeezed Ron's shoulder as she walk to the counter to set her bag down.

"Ron, I'm glad you came. I haven't seen you in ages." She felt the few seconds of humming silence as she moved to the fridge to put the cold items away.

"It's… good to see you, too." He said after a hesitation. His statement sounded more like a question and she assumed he'd been expecting something else. She had left the loft in a less than stellar mood, maybe Harry and Draco had warned him. She closed the fridge and turned back to the room. Ron stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets looking decidedly uncomfortable. "You know I didn't take that photo, right? Much less sell it to the Rita effing Skeeter."

"I know, Ron. You'd never do that." She smiled slightly at him and his shoulders relaxed. She moved to stand next to Draco and bumped him with her hip, his rigid posture also relaxed a bit.

"I mean, you know I don't like to see you with this git. I'd never follow you so that I could see more. That's barmy." He attempted a joke and it did work to lighten the mood a bit more.

"So, you didn't bring Gabrielle with you?" She asked with a bit of a smirk while she fetched a few bottles of butterbeer.

"Oh, well, uh. I wasn't really sure what was going on." He flushed slightly and Harry snickered at him.

"Well after you finish your butterbeer you can go get her and come back for dinner, yeah?" She smiled as she handed him the bottle. She missed Ron, he'd been traveling so much the last few years she rarely saw him.

Ron grinned. "Yeah, sure. What are you making?"

After that the atmosphere lightened considerably and they pointedly avoided any discussion of the mess that was going on. Ginny returned from the Burrow and reported that Harry had been right: Molly _had_ been having kittens after reading about Hermione's engagement in the paper. Ginny passed along the order thinly veiled as a request that they were all expected to be at the Burrow for lunch on Sunday, Hermione and Draco were expected to invite their parents.

Gabrielle, it transpired, had grown up a lot the last few years and wasn't as phlegmy as Fleur was at her age. She'd apparently spent quite a bit of time with Bill and Fleur and had followed her sister in mellowing and reigning in their conceit. Thank Merlin.

Hermione discovered that while Gabrielle was a bit shallow and had the average maturity of a seventeen year old she was pleasant to talk to. The two of them took a fair bit of delight in speaking French while looking at Ron and making him think he was their subject, when in fact they were discussing the various places Hermione had visited the few times she'd been to France. Ron was extremely indignant when Draco added a few smirking comments.

Ron, Ginny, and Harry spoke in detail about Ron's training with the Cannons and the team's prospects for the coming season. Draco kept half an ear on each conversation and joined in when it suited him.

After dinner was wrapped up and Ron and Gabrielle were getting ready to leave Hermione broached the topic they'd been avoiding all evening.

"Ron… be careful. I know it was probably easy to pluck a hair off your shirt or something… but still. Keep an eye out, yeah?" She hugged him and he patted her awkwardly on the back.

"I will. We all need to. And for the love of Merlin, don't leave your wards down again!" He shot a look to Draco over her head.

She groaned, "Ugh, trust me: we've learned our lesson!" She smiled and hugged Gabrielle. "We'll see you both soon? It's been too long…."

Ron rolled his eyes and nodded. She'd never understand why men didn't think it necessary to keep in touch with their friends.

Following their impromptu dinner party they all went about their business and tried to forget about the intruder and the issues surrounding the situation.

Ron went back to spring training, Gabrielle to France, and Harry continued his curse-breaking internship. Draco began his new position as junior attorney, which mostly consisted of running errands and doing research for the senior attorneys, although he did get to observe in court now. Hermione began working on lists of sources for the book. She also compiled a list of photos she wanted as Nyx had delivered Dennis' acceptance of the job when they were in France. She was glad he had accepted almost immediately, even before they settled on the terms. She made a note to send him an initial offer tomorrow so that he could get started soon.

Ginny spent a fair amount of time hanging out while Hermione worked. She'd been having trouble finding work despite going on several interviews and being offered positions. It turned out that no one really wanted to talk to her about anything except her famous husband. Some days she went to Diagon Alley and worked behind the scenes at George's shop and kept him company. At the moment, however, she was curled on the loveseat across from Hermione who was on the couch. She was eying the organized chaos that was Hermione's extensive collection of lists and notes spread out on the coffee table. She idly picked up a quill and spun it in her fingers.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can just sit at home without anything to do. If I could just find a job where I was the only woman it would be brilliant."

"What?" Hermione looked up from her notes, confused.

"Every woman I've interviewed with, or been trapped in a shop with wants to talk incessantly about Harry. 'Oh! You're Ginny Potter!' they squeal." She rolled her eyes. "Then they want to know what he's like, if he's got a big willy, what he likes for breakfast, it's amazing the things people ask me!"

Hermione laughed out loud, "They do not ask if he has a big willy." She looked at Ginny skeptically.

"They bloody well do! I nearly died the first time. Like I'm going to talk about my husband's willy with a complete stranger." She shook her head and stretched out to lie on the cushions. "I don't even talk about it with you."

Hermione blanched, "I'd rather we keep it that way…. It's weird thinking of Harry that way."

Ginny sat up and grinned. "Yeah, I know. But I have no qualms about hearing about your man's bits. Are you ever going to spill?"

Hermione laughed at her, they'd had this conversation before. Hermione wasn't one to kiss and tell. "Draco is perfectly well endowed, I assure you."

Ginny's protest at the lack of juicy detail was interrupted by the man in question. "What's that?" He stepped out of the floo and raised a questioning eyebrow at the two witches who had started giggling. He eyed them both suspiciously and then smirked. "I'll have you know, Mrs. Potter, that Hermione is being modest." He turned and walked toward the kitchen. "She's a lucky woman," he called over his shoulder as he left the room.

"I've never known a man to say otherwise!" Ginny called after him.

Later that night Draco sat on the miniscule balcony of their flat nursing a glass of Ogden's finest. His long legs were stretched out in front of him with his feet propped on the rail. He was staring absently out at the traffic on the street below. He was in a strange mood but couldn't quite pin down what it was exactly. Lately he'd been wondering what his younger self would've thought of how his life was turning out and the actions that had led him here. Turning during the war... Planning to marry Hermione Granger. Being non-enemies with Potter and Weaselbee. Living in muggle London. Having … _nice_ relationships with Hermione's muggle parents and the entire Weasley clan. Hell, he'd even admit that he liked Bill and that when he got his first Weasley jumper the second Christmas he'd been with Hermione he'd actually put it on without being told to. He shook his head in amazement. That was the first thing he'd ever been given that someone had made with their own hands with him in mind. The past few years had taught him that love and affection wasn't a weakness or anything to be ashamed of. He mentally cursed his father. That man had some seriously fucked up views on life.

So much had changed in his life, for the better, and nearly all of it revolved around Hermione. Well, he supposed he'd started on his own… he'd somehow grown a pair of bollocks and found courage he'd never known before and poisoned Voldemort so that his mother wouldn't be forced to carry his demon spawn. Something happened to him the night he'd heard Voldemort speaking to his mother… forcing her to- he shuddered. He didn't want to think about it. But overhearing that conversation had lit a fire in him and he had shed the cowardice he'd hidden behind his entire life and decided that he wouldn't just sit and wait for Voldemort to kill him. He would fight back, decide his own fate. Well, fight like a Slytherin, he didn't go all Gryffindor until Hermione. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

He had fallen so hard and so fast for Hermione it was incredible, it still stunned him. Looking back it seems ridiculous how quickly their relationship had progressed. He supposed that they had just gotten swept up in teenage hormones, high stress from the war, being thrown together in an impossible situation… a multitude of reasons. Whatever they were, he wouldn't change it. No one but Hermione would have given him that chance.

He swirled the whiskey in the glass in his left hand and fingered the parchment in his pocket that he'd gotten in the post that morning. He wasn't sure why he hadn't read it. Or why he was going to bother to read it at all. He thought he already knew what it would say. But the part of him that would always sympathize with the boy wanting his father's love was dying to see what the letter contained. He sighed and pulled it out.

_Draco,_

_Word has reached me that you intend to marry Potter's mudblood. I had hoped this was a false rumor, but the photograph in the Daily Prophet proves otherwise. What did you do to the wards around the Chateau? Remedy this issue immediately._

_I had initially planned on writing to inform you that I do not approve of this marriage and no Malfoy will sully himself with a mudblood, but given my limited access to quill and parchment I have had time to reevaluate my position. Your decision to use the mudblood to improve public opinion of the Malfoy name is a sound one._

_No woman in wizarding history is looked upon more fondly than your mudblood and with many of the purebloods now rotting away in this hell hole with me, the majority of the public will look kindly on you because of this union. That being said, I forbid you to produce a child with the mudblood. You will remain married to her for no more than three years and no less than one full year. As distasteful as divorce is we will thusly take care of the mudblood, after an acceptable time has elapsed, by putting out a rumor of infidelity or some such excuse._

_If you do conceive a brat with the mudblood, you will be legally disowned and neither I nor your mother will recognize you as our son, nor your halfblood offspring as our grandchildren._

_Confer with your mother on an acceptable wedding date- one where I may be present- and make the appropriate arrangements to have a high society wedding at the Manor. Be sure to invite people from the major news outlets. The more press this gets the better it will be for our image. An engagement ball would not be remiss._

_I expect to see an official engagement announcement in the Prophet within a fortnight. I would advise you and your fiancé to seriously consider an interview with Witch Weekly._

_Ever,_  
_Father_

Draco read the letter twice through with no expression on his face. He was surprised that his father approved of the marriage, but was disgusted at the reason. Well, he'd just have to settle for being disowned. While Hermione was worth it, it still stung. Lucius had his 'spare' so what did he need his heir for anymore? Nothing apparently. He heaved a sigh and crumpled the letter into a ball. He couldn't care less about the Malfoy money; he had enough of his own. His mother was going to be extremely upset if he was disowned though.

To tell Hermione or not…. That was the question. He didn't want to hide it from her, but didn't want to needlessly upset her. Before he could decide, she climbed out onto the balcony and studied him.

"Knut for your thoughts." She cocked her head to the side. Well if she could already tell that something was bothering him he'd just let her read the letter. It still unnerved him that she read him so well. Hopefully it was just her…

Without a word he handed her the letter from his father and watched her face chill as she rapidly read Lucius' elegant script. She reached the bottom and immediately went back to the top and read through it again.

"Well. That's nearly the opposite of what I thought he'd say. Although now that I remember just how politically minded he is, perhaps it isn't such a surprise after all." She folded the letter and turned to settle herself in his lap. He rested his arm against her hip and she leaned back against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, they sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the clouds blow past the moon.

"This actually brings up a topic that I realized earlier this week we need to talk about. We've sort of danced around it before but haven't come right out and discussed it." She said quietly.

He felt some nerves flare, what hadn't they talked about? They talked about bloody everything! "Oh yeah? What's that?" He took a sip of his whiskey to cover his nerves.

"Children." She answered simply.

His nerves doubled. She was right, they had danced close to this issue, but had never had the discussion. He knew she was right; they needed to have it before they got married. He knew if he didn't answer her quickly she's start to freak out. "I…." He let out a quiet expletive, "How can I be a decent father, look at who raised me."

"You're nothing like your father. If anything your father's treatment will ensure you're an amazing father because you're going to be so aware of the mistakes he made with you." She nudged his cheek with her forehead. "Without your father in the equation, do you want children?"

He took a deep breath. "Really, we'd be doing society a disservice if we didn't have children. I mean, you're the brightest witch- or wizard- of our age and I'm right behind you. With intelligence like ours, it would be a shame to not pass it on." He smirked, but knew that she saw through his arrogance.

"So that's a yes then?" She turned her face to nuzzle into his throat.

"I think so… what's your opinion?"

"I had a flash the other day of a little curly headed blond boy with his dad's smirk." She laughed lightly. "Of course I want to have kids with you."

"We're both only children- well, for the purposes of this discussion anyways. Do you want to continue that?"

"I think I'd like to have two or three. I'm not dead set on any particular number. What about you?"

"I'm fine with two or three. We'll just play it by ear and see what happens, yeah?" He squeezed her lightly, glad they were agreeing so easily on something this huge. He wasn't really surprised though, they rarely disagreed on the big things. They disagreed enough to keep things interesting, but not create any drama. He was quite pleased with that.

"Alright, last part: how long do you want to wait?" She questioned.

"Bloody hell, I don't know. You answer first."

"Erm. I'm not in a hurry… but playing with Scorp sort of makes me want to have my own baby." She said somewhat shyly.

"How about we revisit this after we're married? We'll see how we're feeling about things then."

She thought for a moment, he could tell she wanted to keep talking until they had a definitive answer but was reigning herself in. "Sounds fair." She sighed and settled back into his chest. "That's enough heavy stuff for tonight. Except this: why don't you start thinking about when you'd like to get married and we'll talk about it in a few days?"

"I can do that." He turned and captured her lips in a soft kiss. "You know you're not half bad, Granger. I might keep you."

* * *

A/N: Not a whole lot going on in this chapter, action-wise anyways. Hopefully it wasn't a snooze-fest.

Thanks for the love y'all sent on the last chapter! Keep it comin' and I'll get this thing written quickly!

PS: I hope you're forgiving me for my less than awesome chapter naming. I did much better on the first story. Oh well, I fell like most people don't notice anyways. :) They've mostly ended up just being random Dylan songs that I like.


	9. Nobody's Fault But Mine

Humming to herself, Hermione gathered her notes and tucked them into her bag. She glanced one more time in the mirror to make sure her hair hadn't escaped the bun and headed out the door. She was meeting Dennis for a breakfast meeting to discuss the photos for the book. The breakfast meeting he suggested was a bit odd, but he had a wedding that evening. She felt a bit of giddiness well up inside her. Meeting face to face with someone about progress on the book made it more real. Before it just felt like her own little project with no one else really involved.

Rita had given up on Harry's interview last week; he'd managed to string her along for nearly a month. Now they were all waiting to see what she'd do about Hermione publishing the history of the war herself. She expected to open the Prophet any day to find some ludicrous story written by Rita in an attempt to discredit her.

She rounded the corner and headed the two blocks down to the coffee shop where she was meeting Dennis. They'd decided to meet at a muggle shop because even though it was a poorly kept secret that she was working on the book, she had yet to confirm it.

She hummed as she went along, enjoying the warm April sun. She had been feeling better about things the last week or so. The loft was put back together and no physical evidence of the intruder left, Crookshanks' paw was fully healed and the hair on his tail was growing in nicely. She still jumped at noises and woke several times during the night wondering if she'd heard something, but it took her less time to fall back to sleep each time. Of course, snuggling up with a man as attractive as Draco was a good way to distract a woman from her worries. There were a couple times, right after the break in, when she couldn't go to sleep and had decided to wake Draco up and use him for a distraction. She smirked to herself in memory, it was quite effective.

She entered the coffee shop and saw Dennis sitting in the corner with a portfolio and a nervous expression. She made his way over to him, smiling, hoping to set him at ease. He was such a nervous, quiet boy.

"Dennis, hi." She greeted him with a smile and sat across from him.

"Hi Hermione!" He chirped with wide eyes. "I'm really excited to work with you on your book! This is going to be brilliant!"

"Thanks, I'm glad you wanted to work with me, your photos from Harry's wedding were stunning." She smiled as he blushed. She cast a silent Muffliato and opened her bag to pull out the lists she had for him. "Shall we get to business?" When he nodded she handed him a sheet of parchment. "This is a list of some of the historical sites I'd like photos of for the chapters on Voldemort's childhood and time at Hogwarts." She handed it to him and waited a moment as his eyes trailed down the parchment. "I think I'd like these to be muggle-style, black and white or sepia. I want them to be really stark, you know?"

"Yeah… they're places that gave rise to a mad man." He said quietly, his eyes a little far away.

"Exactly. But since you've got the more artistic eye of the two of us, why don't you get the shot that I've asked for then do a couple however you like and we'll look at them all later?"

He nodded, still studying the list. "That sounds good."

A waitress came by and they each ordered a coffee and a light breakfast and knocked out the details of his compensation and other aspects of the project. The conversation carried them until they were finished with their food and were sipping the last of their coffee.

"So how are you these days Dennis? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you when you weren't working." She smiled at him, wondering if he'd been okay since Colin's death.

He cleared his throat, "Oh, you know… getting by." He stared at his coffee and she got the impression he didn't want to talk about any deep subjects.

"I'm glad to hear it. So, what are your plans with the photography? Are you going to keep doing the free-lance stuff like you have been, or do you want to work for someone like the Prophet?" She asked, steering the conversation back to small talk.

"The Prophet's rubbish. I've got no desire to contribute to that. I'm not a paparazzo." He said in good humor. "I'm chuffed with the way things are going. Doing Harry and Ginny's wedding really put me on the map, and them letting me keep the proceeds from selling those two photos has put me in a pretty good spot. I can afford to pick and choose what projects I take on now."

"Good, I'd hate to see you waste your talent on gossip like that." She laughed. "I guess you've heard that Draco and I are getting married… we haven't set a date yet, but you are obviously our choice for photos if you're interested."

"Of course I want to!" He sat up a little straighter. "Let me know when you set a date and I'll be sure my calendar is clear."

"Brilliant, I will!"

The second week of April, about a week and a half after her meeting with Dennis, Hermione was staring at her computer screen with bleary eyes. Draco had chuckled at the muggle equipment until she showed him just how much faster typing was than writing, and how easily it could be edited. She leaned back in her chair and tilted her head to crack her neck. She needed a break. She'd been working feverishly for… she didn't even know how long. She got up and stiffly made her way to the kitchen and rifling through the refrigerator, found the makings of a ham sandwich. She also took a small vial of headache reliever out of the cupboard and downed it. She reminded herself to do better about taking breaks away from the computer to help prevent these headaches.

She took her sandwich to the tiny balcony and balanced the plate on her knees and shielded her eyes from the sun. She had been so caught up in the darkness of Voldemort's youth that she was mildly surprised to find a beautiful spring day outside. She Summoned her sunglasses and put them on with relief. Her stomach growled and reminded her what had made her surface from her writing frenzy in the first place, so she went to work on her sandwich and crisps. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes as she munched and enjoyed the sun on her face. It was nice to take a break from the depressing material she was working on. She sighed thinking of what was next… she'd have to talk to Harry about his parents. Hopefully it wouldn't be too unpleasant. Maybe this weekend…. Wait, what day was it anyways? Thursday? Was it Friday? She laughed at herself a bit; she'd really submerged herself in writing this book.

So far she'd done almost all the writing without having to do any interviews. With everything Harry had told her from his sessions with Dumbledore and what she'd learned in the quiet hours that she and Remus had spent talking in the library at Grimmauld Place, she had quite a start. She would, of course, go back and add anything she learned from future interviews. She had decided to start with a pseudo-biography of Tom Riddle detailing his vicious tendencies throughout his childhood and his misdeeds at Hogwarts that Dumbledore explained to Harry-and as that was the only source, she was pretty much set for these chapters. She'd print the text out and have him read over it to be sure that she hadn't made a mistake or left something out though.

She picked up her now empty plate, headed back inside and deposited it in the sink. Deciding that she should take a break from writing to save her eyesight and her sanity, she walked through the loft to the bedroom with the intent of taking a shower when she noticed she noticed that in her absorption in the book she had been neglecting nearly everything else. The laundry hamper was overflowing, the pile of dirty clothes was now being supported by the wall and the side of the dresser. Even then it was spilling into the floor. The bedclothes needed changing… she looked down at herself and Draco's wrinkled shirt that she was wearing. When was the last time she'd put on clean clothes? Poor Draco, it was amazing how little selfishness was in him where she was concerned; he hadn't complained at all… well, not that she'd noticed anyways. Feeling a bit guilty about her neglect of the loft and her fiancé, she stripped the sheets off the bed and started a load of laundry. It was true that she could clean them with magic, but they smelled and felt so much nicer done the muggle way. She opened all the windows to allow the spring breeze to freshen the air- putting charms on them to keep the car exhaust and other pollution out.

She stripped off her dirty clothes and added them to the monstrous pile awaiting her attention and turned the shower on. She checked out her reflection while she waited for the water to get warm. Her hair was a hot mess… it too was in need of a wash and was piled in a rat's nest on the top of her head. Her legs were in desperate need of a shave. Merlin, how long had she been holed up in that room? This was almost embarrassing.

She spent her afternoon cleaning the flat, some with magic some by hand. She sang along to the music she had blasting to help pass the time. She loved the lyrics to "When I'm 64" by the Beatles. Maybe they'd play this at their wedding; it was such a cute song. Satisfied that the loft was significantly cleaner, she switched the laundry to the dryer and started another load. Draco teased her mercilessly about washing clothes this way, but like the sheets, she preferred them the way they came out of the dryer. She did use magic to fold them. Folding clothes had always been her least favorite chore as a child.

Noting the time, she decided to go to the market and get something to make for dinner. They'd been living off of take away the last week or so; she owed Draco a home cooked meal. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

A couple hours later she was in the kitchen when she heard Draco come through the floo. She went to open the bottle of wine she'd gotten to have with dinner, it needed to breathe for a bit.

"Do I smell Italian?" He asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yes you do." She answered and turned to greet him as he entered the kitchen. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you." She stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss. "Can you forgive me?"

"Depends: what did you make for dinner?" She smiled against his lips as he returned her kiss.

"Lasagna." She wrapped her arms around his neck, realizing that she hadn't spent any time with him in at least a week. It's funny how you can live with someone yet still miss them sometimes.

"Yes, I suppose I'll forgive you." He lifted her off her feet and set her on the kitchen counter and stood between her knees. "I'm glad to see you've surfaced. I was going to forcibly drag you away after another day of that." He smirked at down at her.

"You should've. I was working when I realized that I was starving and had a splitting headache. Then I looked at myself in the mirror and the state the flat was in… I completely abandoned everything but the book!" She laughed at herself a little, but already knew that she'd do it many more times before the book was finished.

"Well that's what you do. I'll give you a four day limit from here on out, yeah?" He asked with a semi-serious tone. "I don't want to see you skin and bones again. Especially for no other reason than you forget to eat."

"I've been eating…" she said in her own defense. It wasn't like she'd sat in there and worked until she nearly died.

"Yes, love. You ate what I sat in front of you. I'm sure you'd have eaten if left to your own devices, but probably only half as often as you should've."

She sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. And I concede to your four day limit. If I'm hunched over the computer for four consecutive days or nights, please throw me into the shower then make me go outside."

"Deal."

She wrapped her arms around loosely around his waist and tipped her head back. "I missed you while I was being all hermity in there. Kiss me." He smiled and cupped her cheek in his hand and leaned down to press his lips to hers. She leaned into him and felt his hands drift up to her hair and he deftly took down her pony tail and trailed his fingers across her scalp and down through the length. She made a small sound of appreciation and felt his hand fist and tug lightly. She gasped lightly as his tongue caressed her lower lip. Going on two and a half years with him and she never got tired of kissing him. She didn't see how she ever would.

Since she was already conveniently situated on the counter she wrapped her legs around his waist and he grabbed her hips and pulled her up against him. Just as she untucked his shirt and felt one of his hands slide up her back the oven timer sounded. They both froze for a second, he let out an irritated groan and she giggled.

"Just ignore it." He said and trailed kisses down her throat.

"I can't, I don't want to burn our dinner." She tried to ignore the feel of his lips, teeth, and tongue on her skin but her pulse was racing. The timer beeped again.

This time he straightened up. "Dammit." He pretended to glare at her. "We'll continue this later, witch."

"I certainly hope so." She winked up at him. "Now move so I can get the lasagna out of the oven." She gave him a gentle shove and he stepped back. "Go change out of your work clothes and dinner will be served when you get back." She smiled sweetly at him and he chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Very well. It better be brilliant since what I _want_ doesn't seem to be on the menu." He slowly looked her up and down and her cheeks flushed. She supposed she could turn the oven off and leave the lasagna in… it would be alright for a little while… Her thoughts must've been plain on her face because apparently sensing victory, he grinned cheekily, turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.

She stared at his retreating back for a moment before the timer beeped again and brought her back to her senses. She jumped and spun around to take the lasagna out. He just loooved to mess with her. He gave her that look on purpose so that she'd get in _that_ frame of mind and then _he_ could be the one to walk away on his terms, instead of _her_ shooing _him_ out of the kitchen. Well played, Malfoy, well played. Cause now she was all hot and bothered.

Well, two can play this game. She peeked out of the kitchen and could hear him moving around in the bedroom. She quickly took off her bra and stashed it behind a cushion of the sofa then she grabbed her wand and made her shorts a couple inches shorter and slightly tighter. She giggled quietly as she made her t-shirt a bit tighter and thinner so that there would be no doubt as to what she was- or wasn't- wearing underneath. She put the bread and salad on the table while she waited for the lasagna to cool enough to cut. She was pouring the wine when he came back into the room. He wore black linen pants and a snug black t shirt. She loved that shirt; it was softer than should be possible and made her want to snuggle into his chest and pet him. The soft shirt over his hard muscles… she picked up a glass of wine and stepped closer to hand it to him. Once she passed it off she ran her hand down his chest and stomach.

"I love that shirt." She smiled up at him.

"I know." He smirked. She stood on her toes and gave him a quick peck and went to plate up the lasagna.

"Hungry?" She asked, turning back in time to catch his eyes shoot up to her face. She smiled; she knew exactly where they had been before she turned around.

"Very."

She'd thought that dinner would be rushed with both of them in eager to move on to dessert, but instead they lingered over the wine. They played footsie, made innuendo, held lingering glances, all the cheesy items on a slow-seduction to do list. But coming from a man like Draco, they weren't cheesy at all... they were effective. By the time he sat his empty glass down, stood, and offered his hand in invitation she was ready to push him down on the table and have her way with him. He led her down the hallway into their bedroom... she'd have her way with him there instead.

Hermione woke on Saturday morning with light streaming through the window, her left side was pressed down the length of Draco's back and legs and Crookshanks was curled up inside her right elbow. He opened a yellow eye and made a small happy-cat sound which she took as a good morning. She scratched his ears and he immediately began purring loudly. She was glad his paw had healed and that he'd had no permanent injury. She still got angry when she thought about how he got hurt. She deliberately pushed that thought out of her head. It was a beautiful Saturday; she woke up after a fantastic Friday night snuggled between her loyal pet and her handsome loving husband to be. She grinned to herself….. husband. She was so excited to marry Draco. With everything going on they hadn't talked about when they wanted to get married yet, maybe they'd talk about it today.

She eased Crookshanks away and he stood up stretching then bounding to the floor. She kissed Draco's bare shoulder and frowned slightly when it was cool to the touch. She pulled the covers up around his chin. He stirred a bit and she ran her hand down his arm.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Mhmm too." He mumbled. She smiled to herself and got out of bed thinking that Draco would sleep the clock around if left to his own devices. She decided she wanted to spend a lazy Saturday, starting with a big breakfast. Possibly followed by a nap on the couch in front of the telly. She picked up his clothes that he'd left on the floor the night before and pulled them on. She loved wearing his clothes. She rubbed the fabric of the shirt over her stomach, so soft. Now that it smelled like him she'd rather wear it than anything else.

"Come on, Crookshanks." She said softly to the ginger beast and he padded out after her towards the kitchen. She started a pot of coffee as she got out the makings for a large breakfast.

Draco had been lying in bed for about fifteen minutes listening to Hermione fuss in the kitchen. He smelled bacon sizzling and some kind of potatoes frying. He was getting up in a moment…. He was just so comfortable. He felt the mattress dip and opened his eyes to see a cup of coffee in front of his face. He smirked and sat up, accepting the cup. Not a bad way to wake up: a beautiful witch bringing him a cup of coffee in bed while she cooked his breakfast. He eyed her over the rim of the cup as he took the first sip. She was wearing his clothes and smiling sweetly at him. His shirt was much too large on her, but he liked to see her in it. He set the cup on the night stand, pulled her into his lap, and buried his head sleepily into her shoulder.

"Morning." He said against her neck.

"Good morning yourself." She said and he groaned appreciatively when she ran her fingernails through his hair and over his scalp. After a quiet moment she pulled away. "Come on, love. Breakfast's ready."

"Find me some clothes then, as it seems you've stolen mine." He smirked at her.

They ate until they were stuffed and Draco was helping her with the dishes when the post owl turned up. The helping with the dishes and other chores had been one of the worst growing pains they'd had to overcome. Draco, who'd been raised with an army of house elves and the pureblood elite attitude, had never lifted a finger to do any sort of housework. She didn't oppose his using magic for the chores so long as he helped; he still didn't understand why she did some things by hand and that was okay.

"Done!" He declared as he turned the water off. She laughed as he immediately vacated the kitchen for the couch. She put the last dish back into the cabinet and retrieved the post from the bird.

"Post is here." She called. He grunted to acknowledge she'd spoken but made no other reply. She laughed at him, listening to him flip through the channels. It was amazing how quickly he'd taken to this particular piece of muggle technology.

She looked through the post: a letter from her mum, one from the publisher, a bill for her yearly subscription to _Transfiguration Today_, and an envelope with no return address. She got her wand and ran a couple of diagnostic spells on it; ever since she'd opened the envelope of undiluted bubotuber pus in fourth year, she took extra care opening envelopes from unknown sources. The spells read that there were no jinxes, no unexpected organic material and no curses.

Satisfied with the safety of the envelope, she opened it to find a birthday card. Odd. It was April: her birthday was in September. The cover of the card read simply: _ Thinking of you on your birthday_ in a neat script. She opened it and read the printed message first. _Warm wishes on your special day_. Then her gaze went to the inside of the cover to read the written message, she felt the hairs on her neck stand up and the skin tingled down her spine.

_Hermione,_

_Today is Lavender Brown's birthday 23__rd__ birthday. How does it feel to know that she is not here to celebrate this day, or any other, because of you? Had you not instigated the Battle of Hogwarts she and many of your other friends, and many of mine, would be here today._

_How does it feel knowing that it's your fault?_

* * *

A/N: Hey y'all, life got a little busy there and I didn't get to write much in the last couple weeks. Hopefully I'll be posting more regularly soon. :) As always, thanks for reading and be sure to tell me what you think!


	10. Simple Twist of Fate

She reread the written lines in the card twice more. She didn't understand… who sent this? Why? Was it really Lavender's birthday? She was still staring at it when she heard a knock on the door. She heard Draco get up to answer it, then Harry's voice.

"Where's Hermione, have you read your post?" He asked quickly.

"What? She's in the kitchen… Love?" He called in a louder voice. "Potter's here…."

She was already on her way into the living room carrying the card. Harry was standing barefooted in the living room in an undershirt and a pair of faded jeans. He was holding a birthday card. They silently swapped cards and read the same message printed on each.

"What's up?" Draco asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. She handed him Harry's card and waited for him to read it. "This is creepy. Who sent it?"

"There was no return address on mine; I assume yours is the same, Harry?"

"Yeah."

"D'you think Ron got one?" She asked, reading the words yet again.

"Probably. We can floo him in a minute…. Do you… do you think this is a big deal? I mean… it could just be someone from Lavender's family or a friend who's angry… Hell, it could be Parvati or someone."

She studied the card a moment.

"I don't recognize this handwriting. If it was a Gryffindor within a couple years of us, the handwriting would be familiar to me. I read over almost everyone's essays…. I might not remember whose handwriting it was, but it would look familiar…. This doesn't."

"Well, what about someone in her family who just wants someone they can blame?" Draco asked. "Why they don't blame Voldemort I don't know…"

"Her death was particularly awful. It was several days before she… died. Greyback nearly tore her to shreds." Hermione said quietly. "It could be that someone can't get over watching her suffer… and hates watching us move on to be happy and successful while Lavender… obviously can't."

"Let me floo Ron." Harry sighed. "I really hope he'll tell us something that makes me stop thinking this is from the same person who broke in here."

Harry went over and tossed and handful of floo powder into the fireplace and speaking Ron's address stuck his head in the green flames.

Hermione turned to Draco while they waited for Harry to get Ron. "You don't think it's the same person that broke in here…. Do you?"

Draco stared down at her in contemplation for a moment. He sighed and then spoke, "If they hadn't written 'your fault' at the end I'd be inclined to believe that they were unrelated. But the card said 'your fault', and the writing on the picture frame said 'their fault.' It's not like that's an uncommon phrase, but it's an uncommon sentiment: most people praise us for our actions in the war, very few condemn them- and the majority of those that do are Death Eaters."

She nodded, apparently agreeing with him.

Harry spoke up from near the fire place; he'd heard Draco's theory. "I hate it when you make sense, Malfoy." When they both turned to him he added, "Ron's getting dressed and coming over. I told him none of the rest of us were really dressed so he shouldn't take more than a couple minutes."

They nodded at him. "Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked, determined not to freak out about this or fall into a funk like she did over the break in.

"She's having a lie in. She's… been a bit under the weather this week." Harry replied.

"Oh no. Have you had breakfast then? We've got leftovers; I got a little carried away when I was cooking."

"That'd be brilliant, thanks 'Mione." He smiled. Hermione headed to the kitchen to warm up the food she'd just put away. Ron would want some, too. She hoped Ginny wasn't sick. Her movements paused… Ginny was tired? Under the weather this week? Was she….? No… Ginny hadn't mentioned anything… except going stir crazy without a job, what to do when you're bored at home all day but jump your handsome husband when he gets home? A slow smile crept across Hermione's face and she peeked out of the kitchen to see Harry staring into space with no expression on his face.

"Hey Harry," she called. He looked over at her. "I'd like a chat with Ginny later, when she's up. I haven't talked to her this week and we're due for a gossip session…. See if there's any _news_." She watched him like a hawk and saw a small smile and a flush on his cheeks. Suspicion: confirmed. She grinned at Harry and he grinned back. He never could keep secrets from her. She ran in and threw her arms around his neck and he lifted her off her feet in a tight hug. When he sat her down she kissed him on the cheek, mimed zipping her lips, and bounced happily back to the kitchen.

Draco had watched the exchanged with raised eyebrows. "You two are bloody strange."

Ron came through the floo momentarily clad also in jeans but with a worn Quidditch jersey. He, too, came carrying a card. He handed it to Harry. "Do I smell breakfast?"

Ron's card contained the same message and as he and Harry plowed through the food she sat in front of them averting her eyes from Ron, who still had not learned to eat in a civilized manner.

"So, Ron. I assume that it is actually Lavender's birthday?" She asked.

He swallowed a mouthful of bacon. "Erm… I think so. I remember it was in the spring." He looked a little guilty. She suppressed the urge to berate him for not knowing. He had mixed feelings about Lavender still. They had been close for several months and he hadn't really treated her very well, especially towards the end of their 'relationship'. Only after she was gone and the chance to make it up to her or apologize would never happen, did he realize that he owed her an apology. The painful manner of her death increased the guilt even more.

It turned out that Ron didn't have any new information; he couldn't remember much about her family. He hadn't really cared about talking to her very much… they had spent all their time snogging. The four of them decided to accept the birthday cards as simply creepy… not threatening. They sent them to the auror department to add to the file that was building, just to be on the safe side.

After visiting for a few minutes Ron left, Gabrielle was spending the weekend with him and was arriving soon. Hermione imagined he would be frantically cleaning for the next hour or so. She was glad that Ron and Gabrielle had gotten together; she seemed like a sweet girl. She had worried about Ron a bit for the last couple years… he had gone a little wild with the fame of being a so-called war hero. Granted he and Gabrielle had only been seeing each other for about a month, but she was the only girl they'd seen with Ron more than once.

She packed a plate for Harry to take home to Ginny and he left. Determined to get on with their lazy Saturday she dragged him to the couch and turned on a football game. He didn't like to admit it, but he had become fond of the muggle sport.

They sat with their feet propped on the coffee table and her head on his shoulder. They were chatting lazily about this and that with the volume turned down low. She shifted her position to lean against the arm of the sofa and put her legs across his lap so she could look at him more easily.

"So…" She fiddled with her ring, still not used to wearing something so beautiful. "When do you want to get married?"

He smirked at her. "Eager to become a Malfoy, Granger?"

"Of course. Hermione Malfoy… I like it." She felt a little twist of excitement in her belly.

"Will you take my name?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Course… don't you want me to?"

"Bloody hell, it'd be the greatest achievement of my life! Making Gryffindor's Golden Girl a Malfoy!" He laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him. "Seriously, love… I would be ridiculously happy if you took my name, but it you want to keep Granger or do the hyphenation thing, I'll be alright with it."

"No, I want to have the same last name as you. We're going to be a family right?" She asked with a smile and he nodded. "I want us and… anyone else who comes along to all have the same name. Don't you think?"

"I do." He gave her a rare grin.

"So, back to my original question: when do you want to get married?" She grabbed his hand and twined his fingers through hers.

"I don't know… the fall? What do you think?" He gave her hand a squeeze, shifting to look at her instead of the telly.

"Fall would be nice. I don't really care when or where, just as long as it's not a media circus." He rolled his eyes and made a noise of agreement so she continued. "Do you think we can find a way around it? I don't want what Harry and Ginny had." The fall would be perfect she continued to herself… Lucius would be in Azkaban until the first of the year. She wanted them to be married before Lucius was released and could cause any issues.

"I don't want that either. I'm tired of opening the paper or a magazine and seeing my own face."

"Muggle celebrities find ways to get married in secret, they literally tell no one…." She pondered. "They invite people over for dinner and then they're like 'Oh hey, we're actually getting married!'"

"Yeah?" They spent the next little while talking and joking about ways to get married in secret and the reactions of the various people that they knew.

About three o'clock that afternoon, their lazy Saturday was in full swing and they were dozing on the sofa when the floo flared and Ginny's head appeared in the flames.

"Oh, you two are so sweet it's nauseating." She commented, seeing them lying side by side, Draco behind her with his arm around her waist. He was fast asleep. "Want to come by for dinner tonight?"

"Of course!" Hermione said trying to be somewhat quiet. "Harry looked like he was keeping a secret this morning and you know how terrible he is at keeping things from me." She grinned at Ginny and the redhead rolled her eyes.

"Yes, he's already confessed. Come over around seven and you can hear the news officially, yeah?"

Hermione accepted and it was agreed that she and Draco would bring something for dessert.

She felt Draco shift behind her as Ginny closed the connection. "So that's what you and Potter were on about this morning."

She smiled, "What do you mean? We weren't on about anything..."

"You're as terrible a liar as Potter is at keeping secrets apparently. The She-Weasel's knocked up then?" Hermione rolled her eyes, Draco didn't mean that as a derogatory term anymore; he really only said it to pretend that he didn't like Ginny…she let it slide. Sometimes he still had trouble accepting that once he'd scraped off that nasty Malfoy veneer it turned out that he might actually be a nice guy underneath.

"Yes, Ginny's pregnant you git." She playfully smacked his hand that rested on her stomach and wiggled back into his embrace. "I assume you're alright with eating dinner with them tonight?" He 'mhmmed' her. "Good. What do you want me to make to take for dessert?"

"Apple tart." He replied without hesitation.

"You go buy the apples and I'll bake it, deal?"

"Deal, but only if you make enough so we can leave some here for later… I don't want to share all of them with Potter.

At 7 o'clock she gave a courtesy knock and led the way into Harry's apartment. They had stopped flooing to each other's because they realized it was a more comfortable journey to just walk down the hall and it was just silly to floo across the building. They had all been so used to travelling by floo to visit people that they had laughed at themselves at how long it took them to realize that it was easier and quicker to just walk.

"Hello!" She called, seeing that the living room was empty. Harry peeked his head out of the kitchen, smiling.

"We're in the kitchen. Here, I'll take that." He held his hands out for the tray of tarts.

Hermione and Draco followed him into the kitchen and she went immediately to Ginny and threw her arms around her. "Oh, I'm so excited for you two! When did you find out?" She released the grinning redhead.

"Last Wednesday. Harry wasn't supposed to tell yet but as you know… he can't keep things from you." She rolled her eyes at her husband who shrugged and looked sheepish. "We're not telling anyone but you two and mum and dad just yet. We want to keep it out of the press as long as possible."

Hermione and Draco both nodded. "Of course, we understand." Hermione promised, clapping her hands excitedly. "I can't wait to go baby shopping with you." Ginny nodded enthusiastically and Draco and Harry exchanged eye rolls.

Hermione looked at Harry. She couldn't believe her best friend was going to be a dad. It was such a bizarre thought… her Harry was going to be a father! Her throat tightened a little, he was finally going to have his family… he'd grown up with those miserable excuses for relatives and now he'd be surrounded by people who loved him beyond measure. He'd love Ginny for years, Ginny had loved him more than half her life. She looked back and forth between them for a moment.

"Hermione…" Harry's voice warned. "Don't do it…"

She let out a laugh as the first tear escaped. "I can't help it! I'm so happy for you!" The other three all laughed at her as she launched herself into Harry's arms again. "You're going to be a daddy!" She whispered against his cheek.

"I know, mad isn't it?" He hugged her tightly. She could hear the smile in his voice.

She pulled back and kissed him gently on the cheek. She released him and took a deep breath. "So when are you due?"

"Around the end of January." Ginny patted her flat stomach and smiled.

"That's exciting. When do you think you'll let people know?" Hermione asked.

"We'll wait to tell the rest of the family probably for a month or so… just in case. We're not going to make any sort of public statement about it at all. We'll just let them figure it out for themselves. We'll see how long it takes until it leaks." She shrugged.

"You'll need to tell everyone not to discuss it away from home… but hopefully it'll be kept quiet. Anyways, can I help you with anything?" Hermione gestured to the stove to change the subject before the mood was brought down by memories of her and Draco's news being found out by… whoever it was and put in the paper.

After dinner Harry and Hermione wound up doing the dishes while Draco and Ginny were picking a movie to watch. She could hear them bickering good-naturedly and smiled. She glanced at Harry and saw that he looked pensive and didn't seem to hear the two in the other room.

"Knut for your thoughts." She said quietly and bumped him with her hip. He blinked as if coming out of a daze and looked down at her for a moment.

He cleared his throat. "I was thinking about my mum and dad actually. I guess the whole impending parenthood has them on my mind a good bit." He shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable about the confession.

"I'm sure it has. You and Ginny are going to be brilliant parents, you know. Just like your mum and dad were." He nodded and didn't meet her gaze. Her throat tightened as she thought about his lonely childhood.

"I know. It's just… I've got no idea how to be a father. Look at how the Dursleys raised me; I was the equivalent of a house elf to them. Less actually because they considered me a nuisance. How am I supposed to be a good father with _that_ as my upbringing?" Now he turned to look at her and she saw a little fear in his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Ginny start to come in the room but stop back out slowly when she saw that they were in deep conversation. Ginny knew that sometimes Harry had to talk things out with Hermione to get his head around them.

"Here's the thing, Harry: the Dursleys are bad people, plain and simple. You are not. You are incapable of being a bad father because you'll love and accept any child that comes into your life no matter what their skills and abilities may or may not be. The Dursleys aren't able to do that."

He let out a quiet dry laugh. "Hell no they're not."

"Honestly, you've already got a head start because you practically raised yourself." She reached down and grasped his hand in hers for a moment. "Harry, you'll be brilliant. I don't doubt you for one second. Plus if you two need help, Mrs. Weasley will have so many tips and tricks for you… she should write a how-to guide on child rearing."

Now he let out a laugh that was closer to genuine. "That's true, the woman managed to raise Fred and George without killing them or having them chucked in jail."

"Your parents would be so proud of you… Sirius, too. You know that, right?" She asked quietly, studying his face. He swallowed audibly.

"Yeah. I know."

Part of her wanted to say that she'd give anything for James and Lily to have survived and be here for Harry… but she knew that his childhood difficulties had made him the man he was today, who knows how differently things would've turned out if he hadn't had the life he'd led. She rested her head on his chest. "I hate that we never got to know them... and that Sirius is gone now, too." She whispered. His arms tightened around her.

"Me, too." They held on to each other a moment longer before he pulled away. She saw him try to dry his eyes without her noticing. Which was silly, they'd been through enough that they could cry in front of each other. It had happened quite a few times. She supposed that it was more for the fact that Draco was in the next room. "Do me a favor, love, go pick out a movie before Ginny makes us watch _Titanic_ again."

She laughed and did as he asked because she knew he was really asking for a moment to collect himself. She couldn't imagine life without her parents. The thought of being pregnant without having her mum to call for support and advice was daunting at best.

She entered the living room to find Ginny and Draco each standing with a movie in each hand, expounding the benefits of their pick over the other's. She went to the shelf and pulled out _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, hers and Harry's favorite. She waved it in front of the other two, catching their attention.

"We're watching this. I've been meaning to make Draco watch it forever. Is that alright with everyone?" They both shrugged and Ginny grinned at Draco, who smirked. Hermione knew they were only arguing for form. Draco snagged the movie and put in the player, plopping down on the couch. Ginny caught her eye and tilted her head back to the kitchen, clearly wondering about the heavy conversation she'd walked in on. Hermione just smiled and gave her a slight nod letting her know that things were fine. They both glanced to the kitchen: Harry had yet to join them. The overly dramatic into music began to play for the opening credits and she heard Harry chuckle as he recognized it.

"Bitten by a moose? What the bloody hell is this?" Draco asked loudly, breaking into her and Ginny's silent conversation. He leaned forward and squinted, trying to read the small script. He looked at Hermione like she was mad, "Is that supposed to be Swedish? I thought this was a comedy, not some blasted foreign film."

That brought Harry fully out of the kitchen with a grin. He threw himself down onto the couch next to Draco. "Don't worry, it's brilliant. See: now the credits are for trained llamas."

* * *

A/N: I don't know if you remember in Malfoy: Unknown they talked about Monty Python and Hermione promised Draco they'd watch it... so here it is. Also, yay Ginny's preggers!

So my husband told me today that I should scrap my plans for the EVIL HE/SHE/THEM and change the bad guy to Mrs. Figg. He's like "No one will ever guess it's her! She's barely mentioned in the first book and then is in like two chapters of OotP and never heard from again! It's prefect." He's a goober. :)

As always, I love your reviews! They're like crack to me... well... I don't know what crack is like. My vice is Cherry Coke, so your reviews are like Cherry Coke: my favorite.


	11. Highway 61 Revisited

A/N: Oops! I posted the wrong chapter, sorry y'all. Thanks Impulse for letting me know... Here is the correct one:

* * *

Hermione and Draco entered the Leaky Cauldron the following afternoon. Hermione had Scorpius on her hip and he gripped a fistful of her hair to secure himself. As is typical for small dark bars, the customers looked up from their conversations to see who the newcomers were. A beat of silence followed as the small crowd recognized two war heroes. Conversations resumed quickly and just a little too loudly. There were a few waves and head nods from people they knew, but there were several people staring. She'd known this would happen: this was the first time they'd been out in public in wizarding Britain since Rita had written the article about their engagement. They'd been sort of hiding in the muggle world when they were out and about since then. Even though she expected it, it was still uncomfortable. She squared her shoulders and, sending a smile to Tom behind the bar and those who'd waved at them, they walked through the pub to the entrance to Dagon Alley. Scorpius eyed everyone curiously but didn't make much noise. She wondered if he could sense that they were the objects of curiosity and the instinctive Malfoy pride forbade him from showing fear from the attention. He met her eye and seemed to check to see if she was worried by the situation, when he determined that she wasn't he popped his thumb into his mouth and rested his head against her collar bone. She pressed a kiss to his silky blond hair and patted his back. He was such a sweet little boy. Sometimes she wondered how different he'd have been if Lucius hadn't been imprisoned since before his birth… she knew that Narcissa was a much more involved parent this time. She'd watched Draco choke back comments on multiple occasions and she knew it grated on his nerves sometimes… that Narcissa doted on Scorpius more than she'd ever doted on him, but they all knew that she would've if she'd been allowed to. Each time they went to the Manor and caught Narcissa playing with Scorpius, Draco always caught his breath and paused in the doorway.

They moved through the pub to the back wall and Draco tapped the correct brick and she watched Scorp's eyes widen as they shifted and rearranged to create the archway to the Alley. She loved that kid. They headed first to the Magical Menagerie because Scorpius loved to look at the animals. Draco threatened to send him home with a cat every time… he'd stare into space with a grin imagining the look on their mother's face if they brought an animal home. They spent nearly an hour in the store, Scorpius leading the way thrusting his little finger out to point imperiously at whatever he wanted to see. Hermione grinned and rolled her eyes every time; he was such a Malfoy.

She shifted Scorpius on her hip on their way out; he was getting heavy.

"Here, Scorp, go hang out with your brother. You're getting heavy." Draco held his hands out and swept him up to his shoulders without a second thought. She was pleased with how quickly he'd taken to being a big brother... it made her wonder about his potential as a daddy. She'd never have thought it, but she was hearing that 'biological clock' ticking that muggle women talked about. She'd always rolled her eyes at girls at school who talked about getting married right out of school and immediately having babies as was the general custom in the wizarding world. She'd always thought she'd be an older mother, she'd wanted a successful career first… but the whole author thing could be done at home. She could be a stay at home mum and have a successful career. She'd have never thought that her life would've turned out this way… with Draco not Ron… wanting children at so young an age… writing a history of the war. Amazing. She smiled up at Scorpius who patted Draco's head enthusiastically. Draco grimaced good naturedly and held him by his little ankles. They left the pet store and headed for the book store, Scorpius loved to be read to. He truly was a kid after her own heart. She'd even snuck in some muggle kids' stories into his collection… hopefully Narcissa wouldn't mind when she figured it out.

A half hour later they were exiting the bookstore and were walking toward the opposite end of the Alley, Scorpius was perched on Draco's shoulders, his little hands were clutched tightly across Draco's forehead, much to his discomfort. He held both of Scorp's ankles in one hand and Hermione's hand in his other.

"I wonder if George has got anything that's suitable for Scorp? I mean… most of the products aren't safe for adults much less small children." Hermione worried her bottom lip.

"At the very least we can get the Whizbang fireworks, we'll set them off at the manor and he can watch them." Draco said, obviously not worried. He turned his upper body toward Hermione, not able to turn his head because of his brother's death grip across his forehead and started to speak but he was interrupted.

"Well, well. If it isn't Draco Malfoy." Hermione and Draco both stiffened as Pansy Parkinson's sickeningly sweet voice met their ears. They turned and watched as she sashayed up to them.

Neither spoke to her: they were wondering where this was going, especially since Scorpius was with them. They were in the middle of the crowded street so she couldn't do anything but cause a scene… hopefully.

"Hello, Draco." She all but purred and stepped closer to look up at him through her lashes. He raised an eyebrow, but otherwise made no reaction as he looked down at her. "It's been a while."

"Indeed." He answered, lips curling slightly in distaste. Hermione felt herself tensing, this slag better back up… How dare Pansy make a move on him with her standing right there!

Pansy's eyes flickered up to Scorpius, who was watching her from Draco's shoulders with a remarkably studious expression… he didn't look amused at all. His glare seemed to rattle her for a moment but her self-assured smile, that she apparently thought was alluring, came back full force.

She flipped her silky black hair over her shoulder in what Hermione could see was a practiced move. "You should come round sometime soon." Hermione felt her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline as Pansy had the audacity to actually trail a fingertip down Draco's chest. "So we can… catch up."

Draco was quiet for a beat and then apparently decided to ignore her invitation, "Pansy, have you met my brother Scorpius?" Pansy's smile slipped a notch at Draco's dismissal but he didn't give her time to respond. "And I'm sure you remember my fiancé, Hermione."

The witch's eyes narrowed and she shot a glance in Hermione's direction but still did not speak to her. "Yes, I heard about your… news." She cleared her throat.

Draco caught her hand around the wrist and removed it from his chest. She seemed determined to ignore Draco's disinterest. "But I understand the necessity. You let me know when she's… served her purpose, yeah?" She winked and with another toss of her hair she turned and walked away, her hips swaying to a ridiculous degree.

Hermione stared at Pansy's retreating figure, shocked at her blatant flirting and the comments about serving her purpose. It appeared that Pansy did shared Lucius' assumption that Draco was only with her to boost his public image… well, the witch had never been particularly bright.

She and Draco shared a glance and after a beat of silence he took her hand again. "Shall we?"

"Indeed." She responded, brushing the thought of Pansy and Lucius away. They had no power over her life.

It ended up that they did buy the fireworks and George snuck Scorpius a toffee that turned his hair lime green for an hour, he loved it.

Hermione blinked blearily at the computer screen. She was writing about Peter Pettigrew and it made her heart ache to think about the lives that were ruined because of him. Sirius… Harry's parents. Ugh, everyone. She'd actually had to take a break and have a little cry at one point. She got up, made a snack and vowed that she'd sit down and knock out the rest of the chapter tonight so that she could put it behind her. She returned to the computer and set the plate of grapes next to it and resumed her writing.

_Sirius Black was taken into custody immediately and sentenced to life in Azkaban without a trial or hearing of any kind, the only saving grace is that he was not sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss..._

A little bit later Draco burst in the room. "We don't have plans tonight, do we?"

She looked up and focused on him, taken by surprise by his sudden entrance. "What?" She shook her head as if to clear it. "Plans tonight? What day is it?" She glanced down at the tatty shorts and Draco's overlarge shirt she was currently wearing. She hoped to Merlin they didn't have plans… she hadn't showered in at least two days…

"It's Friday night, love." His shoulder drooped slightly. "You're in the zone aren't you? I couldn't drag you away with wild horses, I'm sure."

"Why, what's up?" He looked excited about something.

"One of the partners had two tickets to tonight's Puddlemere United match, but he couldn't go." He sighed and let his head fall back. "You have absolutely no desire to go to a Quidditch game, do you?"

"Erm… why don't you ask Harry? You'll have more fun with him…" She said apologetically because he was right: she had no desire to go. She only liked Quidditch when she knew someone playing.

"_Potter_? You want me to hang out with Potter? Like we're friends?" He said, trying his best to sound disgusted. She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing full well that they would both have fun even if they wouldn't admit it. He threw his hands in the air. "Fine. I'll floo him."

She followed him to the living room and watched him toss the tickets onto the coffee table and stick his head into the fireplace. She wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink and heard him talking to Harry.

"Look, I've got these two tickets and no one to go with. I figure it's better to waste a ticket on you than an empty seat." He was quiet a moment, listening apparently. She wondered if they'd ever drop the charade that they weren't friends. It had developed into some bizarre ritual between them at this point. "No, I got them for free…. You're buying the beer though. Yeah, a half hour. …. Fuck off, Potter." She rolled her eyes and knew that Harry had said goodbye with a 'Sit on it, Malfoy.' She kept him company as he dug out his Puddlemere shirt and a pair of jeans and grumbled about having to go with Harry. Part of him really meant it; he had no friends left these days except for her and her friends. The Slytherins he'd been friends with, if you could even call them friends, had abandoned him after the war for being a traitor. He kept up an acquaintance with Blaise, who'd left England for Italy during the war, but correspondence was few and far between. She made them sandwiches and after they ate he kissed her on the cheek and headed to meet Harry in the lobby.

She immersed herself in her writing almost immediately. She surfaced some hours later to a loud noise in the hallway outside their door… it sounded like… singing? Very bad singing at that…

She glanced out the window and saw it was pitch black, how late was it? She clutched her wand as she made her way down the hall and something hit the door with a heavy thud. Oh Merlin, was this the intruder, back again? Was it some Death Eater wanting revenge? She relaxed fractionally when she heard Draco curse and Harry chuckle. She flipped the light on in the living room as they stumbled through the door. Her eyes widened as she took in their disheveled appearance. Draco had his right arm thrown around Harry's shoulders and Harry had his left around Draco's waist… they appeared to be supporting each other's weight.

"My-knee!" Harry slurred. "You're so pretty…" He grinned stupidly at her. One of the lenses in his glasses was broken and he appeared to have spilled something down his front. She stared at him in shock… she'd seen Harry pissed on a few occasions, but this might take the cake.

"Fuck off Potter, don't hit on my woman!" Her eyes widened even more and a laugh bubbled up her throat. She surreptitiously reached for the drawer of the end table in front of her and fished out her camera. She snapped two shots of them leaning on each other and thought with glee about how much she would tease them about this tomorrow.

"There's my girl!" Draco said, as if just now noticing her. "You know what, love? Potter's not half bad. But don't tell him I said that." His words were slurred together to the point she had to pay close attention to understand him.

"I'm right here, ya tosspot…" Harry said under his breath, weaving toward the sofa.

"You two had fun I take it?" She asked and glanced at the clock and with a start realized it was nearly three in the morning.

"Oh, it was brilliant. The match was too fuckin' short, so we went to the Leaky and had a pint or two." Draco answered, also heading to the sofa.

"Or two." She added. She smiled at her two favorite men, both sprawled on the sofa with their heads thrown back on the cushions, seemingly unable to support the weight of their own heads at this point. She noticed that Draco had his sleeves rolled up past his elbows… he _never_ did that. He always wanted to have his Mark covered. Then she noticed something else…

"Draco… what's on your arm?" She took a few steps closer and felt a little dread when Harry started chucking.

"Told you she'd kill you." He muttered, his eyes closed.

Draco raised his head and blinked at her. "Oh, well… see… when we left the bar, we decided to walk home cause it the weather's nice, and we knew that you and She-Weasel would be mad if we came home completely shitfaced..."

"Mhmm…" If they'd attempted to walk it off and were still in this state it was a wonder they'd made it home at all!

"Well, then we passed this muggle tattoo shop…" He trailed off and gently grazed the bandage on his arm.

"No you did not." She gasped… surely not…

"Well, Potter dared me! He's a fuckin' patsy though; he backed out when his turn came!" He rolled his head still supported on the cushion to look at Harry. "Fucktard." He gave Harry's shoulder a shove.

"Ginny'd kill me." Harry stated. He'd now opened his eyes and was watching her and Draco with ill-disguised glee.

"Did you get something hideous?! Let me see!" She demanded after a moment of stunned silence and stepped closer to see the bandage wrapped around his left forearm from wrist to elbow. Did he cover his Mark up? She knew he hated it, even though it had faded significantly. She'd seen him a few times tracing it with his finger with a stormy expression on his face.

He looked at her uncertainly, his eyes clouded. She wondered how many of her he was seeing at the moment. At least two. He tapped the bandage with the tip of his wand and it became transparent. "Oh. A thunderbird?" It was done in black, one outstretched wing tip nearly to his elbow and the other stopped just short of his wrist. The bird's head was turned to the left and it had very clean lines, it looked very… tribal. She couldn't see the faded dark mark underneath the fully colored in body of the thunderbird.

"Told you she'd know what it was." Harry said.

Draco rolled his eyes, "I had no doubt. I'm sure she knows its history and whatnot…"

She launched into lecture mode. "The Thunderbird is a Native American spirit being that was a protector and could control lightning and thunder…" She trailed off, realizing that neither was paying any attention. They had both abandoned any attempt to keep their eyes open. She had better get Harry down the hall before she had to Levitate him. She walked over and grabbed his hand and gave a tug. His eyes fluttered open. "Come on, up you get." She tugged his arm until he got the message and hefted himself up off the couch. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered him through the door and down the hall. She was going to take the mickey out of them tomorrow. She'd never seen either of them this pissed.

She tapped her wand on the Potter's door and muttered under her breath to lower the wards so that they could get in. She wrestled him onto his own sofa and headed to the bathroom. She had half a mind to leave him without the Sober Up potion, but knew that he'd be hurting in the morning without it. She was searching in the medicine cabinet when she heard Ginny coming down the hall.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" The sleepy witch clutched her wand and despite her sleep-tousled hair, she looked ready for battle. "Where's Harry?"

"He's on the couch. Apparently he and Draco went and got ploughed." Ginny chuckled and opened the correct drawer to find the potion. "Must be bad then if you brought him home."

"You have no idea." Hermione rolled her eyes as they walked back to the living room. "He convinced Draco to get a muggle tattoo."

Ginny's jaw dropped open. "You're joking."

"Unfortunately, no. I just hope he still thinks it was a good idea in the morning…"

Draco woke slowly the next morning. He grimaced as his stomach roiled. His mouth tasted like an old boot and his head was pounding… he was actually aware of the eyeballs in his head. That was bad… were you supposed to be able to feel your eyeballs just sitting in there? He groaned and heard a dry chuckle behind him.

"Are you going to fight the Hangover Solution like you did the Sober Up Potion?" Hermione asked, without any sympathy.

"Ugh….. I wouldn't take the potion? Bloody hell, I'm never going out with Potter again." He reached his hand out blindly and felt a glass pressed into it, he sat up without opening his eyes and chugged the contents. He flopped back onto the pillow, trying to control his gag reflex. That potion was horrible. He absently scratched at his itchy left forearm and it burned like fire. "Merlin!" His eyes flew open; what had he done to his arm? He squinted his eyes against the bright morning light, his headache had receded but it was far from gone. He looked down at his arm which appeared to be covered in that cling wrap that Hermione used to put away leftovers… his eyes widened and he sat up as he saw what the plastic was covering and the distorted memory of last night came roaring back to his memory. He stared in shock for a second at the massive black tattoo covering the entire inside of his forearm. "Oh… Fuck."

* * *

A/N: Hi! Sorry for the long wait between chapters! For reference, the inspiration for Draco's tattoo is the one that Keith Urban has- on his left forearm coincidentally. Google it, it's pretty sweet.  
As always: thank you for reading. I adore you!


	12. Buckets of Rain

'Oh, fuck' was right Draco thought to himself studying his arm. He couldn't believe he'd been stupid and pissed enough to actually get a muggle tattoo. Totally barbaric. He traced the spot where he knew the Dark Mark lingered, though now he wasn't able to see it. It had been two days since he and Potter had gone to the match. When he'd woken up on Saturday and recovered well enough from his hang over to think straight, his immediate thought was to just Vanish the ink out of his arm. But Hermione had healed the tender skin and told him to give it a week. She pointed out that he hated the Mark and maybe he'd rather have something he liked on his arm instead of the awful reminder of his past. And she said it was sexy. That was always a plus, he smirked.

He sighed… she was right. Again. He hated that bloody Mark. Over the last few years he'd spent a lot of time researching possible ways to get rid of it but no spell or potion had been able to remove or even lighten it. Even dead Voldmort's power was too strong for it to be eliminated completely. He'd always been thankful that it wasn't the jet black that it had been when Voldemort was alive, but he wanted it completely gone. Well, it was sure as hell invisible now, that was for damn sure. His entire forearm was covered with the large black bird. It was actually pretty wicked looking; he could see why his drunken self had chosen it. But did his sober, every-day self like it? Possibly. He'd do what she suggested and give it a week... maybe two as he kept going back and forth.

He'd been trying to resurrect more memories of that night… but it was very blurry. That was the most he'd ever had to drink in his entire life. Combined.

He did have a faint memory…

_He and Potter stumbled into the tiny, dark tattoo parlor and looked at the various artwork displayed on the walls. The shopkeeper was busy at the counter with a couple teens looking to get piercings so they had some time to kill. Suddenly the Thunderbird caught Draco's eye and he elbowed Potter and pointed._

_"Look at that one! Fucking brilliant." He stumbled a little and braced himself on the back of a nearby chair._

_"Yeah it is. … What is it?" Potter asked._

_"Fuck if I know, but it's wicked." He leaned closer and studied the straight, almost harsh lines of the bird for a moment. "Yeah. I'm getting this."_

_"Yeah?" Potter asked, squinting through his broken glasses at it._

_"Yeah."_

_"Where?"_

_"Erm. I'm going to finally cover up this fucking Dark Mark. I fucking hate it." He looked down at his sleeve-covered arm._

_"You know you say 'fuck' every other word when you're pissed?" Potter punched him lightly on the shoulder._

_Draco glared at him. "Yeah? Fuck off. Fucking Scarhead." Draco grinned. "You're right: that was every other word." Harry rolled his eyes. "So, yeah. I'm getting this wicked bird thing. What are you getting?"_

_"Me?" Harry poked himself uncoordinatedly in the chest and looked surprised. Draco rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah you! Who the hell else am I talking to?"_

_"Erm." Harry weaved down the wall to study more of the tattoos on display._

_"You know there was a rumor in school that you had a hippogriff tattooed on your chest, right?"_

Draco grimaced at the memory and idly scratched his new body art. He though that Potter had ended up Confunding the tattoo artist because he'd said something about it being against company policy to do tattoos for people who were obviously intoxicated… and then doing it a second time when he noticed that the Mark wasn't actually a tattoo. He couldn't believe Potter had backed out of getting one also. He thought Potter had said something about getting the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, since he was the only known wizard in history to have ever been the master of all three of them at the same time. Looking back it was probably a good idea that he hadn't gone through with it, if the Prophet or Witch Weekly had caught a glimpse of The Boy Who Shat Rainbows' new tattoo they'd have researched it until they found out what the symbol stood for. It would've stirred up all kinds of trouble about what the symbol meant and what the Hallows were… and where they were. Merlin they'd been stupid that night. He and Potter weren't going anywhere by themselves without Hermione or She Weasel ever again.

Hermione hummed under her breath while she outlined the next chapter. The humming was a futile attempt at staying detached from what she was writing. She and Harry had finally sat down and discussed how much they wanted to include in the book about his mother and Snape. After some thought and discussion he decided he wanted to tell the full story about their friendship as children and Snape's love for Lily as they grew up. Though he felt uncomfortable with including personal information about his mum, they knew that everyone had been wondering about Snape's motivation to turn spy against the Dark Lord for the majority of his adult life. Since his motivation had been entirely based on his love for Lily, they decided to go ahead and tell the full story. Had Snape and Lily Evans not become friends as children and had he not fallen in love with her as he grew older, he'd have served Tom Riddle faithfully. In Hermione's opinion, his turning had been one of the deciding factors in the war against Voldemort. There were so many people who wound up being keystone players for the Order it was terrifying to think what would've happened had any one of them not played their part. Snape, Harry, Dumbledore, Lily… It was bittersweet writing about Lily. She had been a wonderful person by all accounts and had given birth to one of Hermione's favorite people. It was lovely to be able to write that part of her history, to put all those comments on paper, but then writing about the woman's murder broke Hermione's heart.

She sighed and started at the beginning of the Snape/Lily relationship and outlined the memories of their childhoods and early years at Hogwarts that Harry had seen in the Pensieve then went on to Snape's overhearing the prophecy- which needed a couple of pages to itself, and the agreement with Dumbledore that led to his defection from the Death Eaters and Voldemort. She made sure to include his Patronus changing to mirror Lily's… that would come into play in later chapters when she explained how the Sword came to them. Sometimes she wondered if Snape had managed to aid them at any other point during their time on the run. If he'd passed on false rumors or anything else.

She made a note to send a few letters to see if anyone had any photos of Snape… he'd left his estate to Hogwarts when he died. She'd write to McGonagall and see if there were photos in all the books. If no photos of him could be found, she'd send Dennis to Hogwarts to take a photo of his portrait in the Headmistress's office. There was that if nothing else… she had a hard time imagining Snape willingly posing for any photos…

She'd finished the chapter outline by that evening but couldn't bring herself to get to the meat of it… she wasn't looking forward to building up toward the deaths of Harry's parents. So instead of writing, she and Draco were cuddled on the sofa, his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her in tight against his front. They were watching a documentary on the supposed 'history' of witchcraft out of a sort of morbid curiosity. It was both interesting and tragic at the same time… all those innocent muggles that were persecuted and killed. Draco was very amused and made snide remarks about the things that made people suspect others were witches or wizards. He had a whole lot of nothing good to say about that group of girls in Salem.

Eventually, as the program was ending, she felt Draco's hand slip under the hem of her shirt and he began to trace small circles on her stomach with his fingertips. She instantly felt that spark ignite and begin to sizzle. She sighed happily and wriggled back more firmly into his embrace and moved her bum perhaps a bit more than was strictly necessary and felt him press his hips forward, responding to the pressure. He shifted and she felt his warm breath and lips against that sensitive spot underneath her ear. She turned off the telly so the sound wouldn't distract her and angled her head to allow him better access. Just as his hand began to glide up her stomach and his teeth scraped down her thoat, a frightened scream sounded in the hallway outside their door.

They both froze, his lips still on her throat and her hand reached halfway back to his face, and waited and after a short second of silence they heard a man's muffled voice "Oh my God!" Followed by quieter words that they couldn't make out. She turned quickly to look at Draco and after a split second's silent communication they were on their feet and headed to the door with their wands drawn, their previous activities forgotten for the moment.

She whispered, "It must be muggles… Harry and Ginny are the only ones…" She trailed off as they heard a woman's voice speaking very rapidly but they couldn't make out the words. Maybe the man had played some prank on her and startled her… maybe there was a mouse or something silly that scared her. For the love of all that's holy, please don't let this be something else directed at them. They'd had enough drama. There was a tentative knock on the door and her hopes fell as the man spoke up again.

"Hello? Anybody in?" The man said in a loud voice. Draco waited a moment so it wouldn't seem like they'd been standing right on the other side of the door. He tapped his wand on the door to unlock their spells and undid the muggle locks. He held his wand in his pocket as he opened the door and the source of the disturbance was immediately clear. Hermoine gasped and Draco cursed as they stared in shock at the gruesome sight that met them.

"Wotcher… we were just heading home and saw this… thought we'd knock and let you know…"

Draco and Hermione stared silently at the gore.

"What the bloody hell is this, mate? Who'd put a dead bird on your door?!" The man asked.

Draco cleared his throat. "Damned if I know." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Thanks for letting us know…. I guess."

"Yeah, mate. You want us to ring the police or something? I mean… this is mad." The man, whom she recognized as living at the end of the hall, stood uncertainly as he gestured at the remnants of the owl.

Hermione spoke up quickly, "No, we've got a friend who's a police officer… we'll get him to come… and… we'll file a report." She spoke dazedly as she stared at the blood running down the door, puddling on the carpet amidst the scattered black and gray feathers. She hoped they would go soon… she really wanted to clean this up. Clean _her_ up…

The man spoke to Draco for a moment then steered his girlfriend down the hall to their loft.

"I guess there's no way that's any bird but Nyx, is it?" She asked softly, swallowing with some difficulty. This was really dreadful.

"No, I don't think so." Draco ground his teeth. "Let's get her down."

"No… we should leave it for the aurors to see what he did…whoever he is. I'll walk down and see if they did anything to Harry's…" She paused as she studied the gore. "Is… is that all of her?" She leaned a little closer, her throat closing in horror. "I think she was dismembered." She gasped in a hoarse whisper and felt Draco's hand on her shoulder as he pulled her away from the sight. She reached up and grasped his hand. "I'm going to go to Harry's to see… I have a feeling that's where… the rest of her is."

"No. You're going back in and locking the door. She can't have been here long, there are people up and down the hall all the time; the sicko might still be in the damn building. I'll go to Potter's." The fact that it didn't occur to her to argue with him that she was fully capable of walking down the hall testified to the level of her shock. Instead of anger she felt the hair on her neck stand up and she cast _Homenum Revelio_ in each direction down the hall. There was no one. She breathed a sigh of relieve, thank Merlin invisibility cloaks were rare and most people struggled with making strong enough Disillusionment charms to render themselves actually invisible. She nodded at Draco and as she turned to go back in she noticed the note, covered in blood, tucked behind the remaining wing…. The other was unaccounted for.

She reached out and removed it, slipped it out of the bloodied envelope, and read it.

_How many people will never again get post from loved ones because you killed them?_

There was no salutation or signature.

She heard Draco curse again as he read over her shoulder. She let him usher her into the loft and lock the door behind her. She studied the note as she waited for Draco to get back with Harry. This one chilled her more than the others. This note was angrier… the previous ones had all been accusatory, but this one felt like it had gone up another level. And Nyx… the poor sweet bird. She couldn't believe whoever this was had killed and mutilated her. That was definitely an escalation. Crookshanks hadn't been hurt intentionally; he'd probably drawn first blood.

She chewed on her lip, worrying about the implications of the escalation to violence and what would be next. She heard Draco and Harry in the hallway and went to meet them.

They came in, both looking grim.

"The aurors are on their way." Harry spoke without preamble. He was also holding a bloody letter.

The aurors arrived within minutes and half went to the Potter's and half stayed at Hermione and Draco's. There wasn't much for them to do, they examined what was left of the lamented owl and were shocked to find that she'd been mutilated without magic, but with a knife. No one could find any significance to this. One of them wondered aloud if perhaps the perpetrator just enjoyed doing it by hand. There was a pervasive silence after that.

They put Nyx in a box, Harry was adamant that they were going to bury her at the Burrow. Hermione made no argument: she knew he was still sorry about Hedwig's demise and what he'd had to do to her to slow down the Death Eaters chasing him.

After the blood and feathers were Vanished and the aurors had gone to file their report the four of them sat quietly in Hermione and Draco's living room.

"Hermione…" Harry spoke up after a few minutes of silence. "I've had something in the back of my mind all night, I must've seen something on the telly. What are the signs of a killer before they start killing people? They set fires and…" He trailed off.

"Kill and mutilate small animals." She finished quietly. No one spoke for several minutes as the implications set in.

"I want to move." Ginny spoke up suddenly, sitting up straighter, her hand flying nervously to her still flat stomach. "In secret. We'll keep the lease on this place but find somewhere else and put it under a Fidelius charm… make in unplottable, everything." She stared hard at Harry.

"I'm beginning to think the same thing She Weasel." Draco spoke up, his eyes on Hermione. "If we can hide from fucking _Voldemort_ then we can hide from this barmy bastard."

Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "I'm certainly not opposed to it. I've honestly been thinking about moving out of the city a bit lately anyway. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. Let's sleep on it and discuss it when we're a bit calmer. I do think Ginny should at least go to the Burrow since this crazy person knows where you live… I know you can hold your own, Gin, but the baby…"

They all nodded solemnly, Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny and pulled her in close. "Right. We're spending the night at the Burrow tonight then. Do you want to come with us?"

"No, I'd rather not." Draco said fairly quickly. He seemed more angry than worried.

"Alright. We'll be in touch tomorrow and let you know what we decide to do." Harry stood and hugged Hermione goodbye. As she and Draco went solemnly about their evening she worried about things. What would've happened if this person had encountered one of them in the hallway or on the street? Ginny was still a force to be reckoned with, but the thought of her having to defend herself and an unborn baby scared Hermione, badly. She agreed with Ginny that the Potters should move for the baby's safety and she was getting to the point where she wasn't feeling safe in her own home either. If Draco wasn't opposed she felt like she'd follow suit and find somewhere she felt safer.

He scrubbed his hands ruthlessly; he could still see the blood. Blood. There was always so much blood…. it flowed hot and wet across his hands and knife. He hated it once it dried. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it and hated them.

* * *

A/N: Hi! So, it's been forever since I updated, I'm super sorry. I've been traveling for work and just having general lack of inspiration. Anyone want to apply to be my muse?

Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!


	13. She Belongs To Me

A/N: Be ye warned: I let my girly side get a little carried away with this one. I hope you enjoy a quick mid-week update nonetheless.

* * *

Ginny and Harry decided to move into the Burrow temporarily while they explored their options for a new place to live. It had been two quiet weeks since Nyx had been killed and so far the press was ignorant of the incidents and Ginny's pregnancy. The Weasleys were overjoyed with the news of a new addition- despite the creepy occurrences that had been happening in their building. Ron it seemed had not received a note or any parts of the poor owl. They assumed it was because of his travel schedule with the Cannons and whoever this creeper was either didn't know how to find him or didn't want to risk hotel security. Hermione and Draco were still undecided about whether to move or not.

"Do you prefer living in the city?" She asked one morning as they drank coffee on their miniscule balcony.

He shrugged as he chewed and adopted a thoughtful expression. "I'm not fussed either way to be honest." He took a sip out of his mug. "Obviously I'd rather go somewhere where this arsehole doesn't know where we live. And it would be nice to have a little more room…" He thought a moment more. "I can't really think of many reasons I'd prefer the city to somewhere less crowded. What do you think?"

"I'd like to have a garden I think. If we're going to do the family thing someday we'll want a garden. And more bedrooms since I've taken over the second one here as an office. Not that it's an immediate concern. And yeah, I agree that I want somewhere more secure."

So it was decided that they'd attempt to look for a new home while keeping it a secret. Neither of them was too sure how to do that, but disguises might be in order.

Hermione was determine not to let The Arsehole, as they'd not-so-affectionately begun calling him, run her life and so resolutely forged ahead with her writing and with planning their wedding. They were getting married in the fall like they'd discussed but no one knew the date besides the two of them; no one even knew they'd set a date. They'd 'accidently' told notorious gossipmonger Parvati Patil that they were thinking about the following summer to lay a false trail. They were going to great lengths to keep the details an absolute secret. There were a couple of reasons for this. First, she did not want the security nightmare that Harry and Ginny had had to deal with at their wedding trying to keep people like Rita Skeeter out. The romance between she and Draco had grabbed even more headlines than Harry and Ginny's because of their backgrounds… the Muggleborn best friend of the Chosen One and the reformed Death Eater who fell in love when she was captured and tortured by his family... alright, she conceded that it did sound a little crazy when you put it that way. She'd never get used to the public's interest in them, especially in her. Draco she could understand… a sexy, intelligent, enigmatic, rich, and powerful young wizard… she could admit that she'd have read about him in _Witch Weekly_ if the situation had been different.

Another reason was that, no matter what she told herself, she was nervous about Lucius. He was really an unknown factor… had he not lied to Voldemort about Harry being alive she'd have expected swift and immediate retribution for his son being in a relationship with a mudblood and soiling the pure Malfoy line. Knowing that he'd essentially saved Harry's life left her, along with Draco and everyone else, completely unable to guess what he would do next. Even though it went unspoken between them she knew they both wanted to have the wedding while he was still in Azkaban and couldn't do anything to try to ruin the day or stop it altogether. From what she could tell, Lucius' name was mud- oh she enjoyed the irony- in his old circles, but he could be so charismatic that she wouldn't be surprised if he still had someone on the outside that he could coerce into trying to stop the wedding, or worse. She wondered if Lucius would try to remove her from Draco's life once he got out, especially when it became obvious that this was not a publicity stunt… only time would tell.

It had been two weeks since The Arsehole had killed their poor bird… two weeks waiting for the other shoe to drop. Given the escalation of violence with the murder and mutilation of the bird, she knew that it wouldn't be long before his next act of aggression and all of them were slightly on edge… would he escalate from animals to violence against one of them? She pushed those thoughts aside, determined to not worry about that… today was going to be fabulous. She'd been sneakily corresponding with her mother to find a muggle wedding dress shop where they could go and not be recognized. She refused to try on wedding gowns in a disguise. It really was more a matter of her mother finding which shop she wanted to go to first, because very few witches wore traditional muggle gowns. Some muggleborns chose to go that route, like Hermione, but she and her mum decided they'd go to Paris in the hopes that it would make the chances of being recognized a little bit lower. She'd thought about going to New York, but that just seemed like too big a hassle. Plus she'd have had to ask for a trans-Atlantic portkey and explain that she was taking a muggle… it just wasn't worth it.

So Paris it was. Her girly side was fighting for dominance today; she was extremely excited about this shopping trip. She'd initially planned on going only with her mother, but decided that she'd miss Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Also, she figured it would go a long way to build her relationship with Narcissa to invite her along. It should only slightly awkward. She and Narcissa were friendly but not close yet… really Scorpius had bridged the gap more than anything else. Away from the presence and domination of Voldemort, her sister, and Lucius, Narcissa had continued to open up. Draco admitted that he had to stifle his shock when she hugged him tightly each time she saw him or every time she laughed… he said that he didn't even recognize her true laugh at first, having never heard it before… she'd never been allowed to be so free with herself. It made Hermione sad to know how fettered Narcissa had been her entire life. She could tell Draco was a little bit in awe of her and the change that had taken over her personality as she relished in her freedom.

The shopping day passed remarkably quickly. They had Apparated to Paris- much to her mum's shock and discomfort- and they had taken the bridal shop by storm. Hermione had stood in the middle of the racks feeling slightly overwhelmed as each woman had gone in a different direction and begun pulling dresses. Hermione envisioned a dressing room piled high with more dresses than she could try on in a week much less an afternoon. She'd quickly put her foot down and limited each of them to one dress at a time. They grumbled but continued their searching a bit more thoroughly instead of loading their arms with whatever caught their eye. She was surprised to see Narcissa and her mum conferring together as they shifted through the dresses. Her mum's nerves were apparent and Hermione was glad that her future mother in law was making an effort to be friendly. She wondered how awkward it felt for the two women- especially Narcissa, who'd been brought up to hate people like her mum. Oh, if Lucius could see her now Hermione smirked to herself.

Ginny's pick was a lovely strapless satin A-line dress with a simple bow at the waist. Hermione came out of the dressing room to see her mother immediately tear up and squeak something about her baby in a wedding dress. They all agreed that this was definitely a contender.

Narcissa chose something classic; it was lace over the entirety of the dress with sheer lace up to her throat and down to her wrists. It was surprisingly stunning but was too old fashioned for her taste. Hermione was glad that she could honestly say that she liked the dress and that general consensus that it wasn't the dress for her. She'd have hated having to politely tell Narcissa that she didn't like her choice. Which was a silly worry really, the woman had fabulous clothes.

Mrs. Weasley had cheated and pulled two dresses and though the other three griped good-naturedly, they allowed the second dress. The first was absolutely hideous. It had poufy shoulders and Hermione was shocked that the store had stocked anything like that since 1987.

But the second dress. Oh the second dress. When the shopkeeper finished lacing it up in the dressing room Hermione heard her intake of breath and looked up into the mirror to see her standing wide-eyed behind her, smiling hugely. Hermione shifted her gaze to the dress and gasped also. The dress was one-shouldered and fit her like a glove to her hips where it fell like rain to pool about her feet. She touched the silvery-white layers and watched them move easily… she didn't know what sort of fabric it was but it almost felt like Harry's invisibility cloak. She couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on her face. She made eye contact with the shopkeeper again and the woman nodded knowingly. She left the dressing room and heard four separate gasps as her mum, Ginny, Molly, and Narcissa caught sight of her. She stepped up onto the pedestal and turned to face them. Her mum and all three witches were silent, which was really saying something...

Finally Ginny spoke up. "Oh, Hermione" was all she said but the other three nodded. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror again, her throat getting tight with the realization that she was marrying Draco dawning on her more acutely than it had done before.

"Hermione… "Narcissa spoke, standing up and walking forward to look at the dress more closely, the other three hot on her heels. "This dress was made for you." The shopkeeper, being an excellent saleswoman, walked up quietly and draped a veil of similar fabric, edged with something sparkly that accentuated the sheen of the fabric of the dress across her hair.

"Oh, Hermione dear! If anything could make Draco Malfoy cry happy tears, it'll be the sight of you in this dress walking down the aisle." Molly said, wiping tears from her own eyes.

Hermione gave a watery laugh, "I have a hard time picturing him in tears." She turned to the side and studied the dress from that angle. The train wasn't very long, but the veil added several feet. "Well I still have mum's pick to try on before we decide on anything." She'd been watching her mum standing silently, slightly behind the witches. She hadn't said anything yet, but looked fairly emotional.

"No." Her mum spoke up, shaking her head. "There's no need, love. This is your dress." The three other women nodded and Ginny clapped.

Hermione agreed, somewhat shocked that it had taken her so few dresses to find the one that she was in love with and that everyone had felt the same way. She turned this way and that, studying the dress from every possible angle. She started to feel giddy... she'd completely tuned out her entourage and had absolutely zero desire to ever take this dress off.

"This is the one then, dearie?" The shopkeeper asked after allowing her a few minutes contemplation.

"Yes, this is it." Hermione said, trying to rein in her excitement. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ginny smothering a grin and pressing a couple galleons into her mother's out-stretched palm. Hermione focused on the two, wondering what was afoot. Mrs. Weasley tried to look innocent and Ginny burst into laughter.

"I told her _I'd_ find your dress… she said _she'd_ find it." Mrs. Weasley said sheepishly. "Don't tell my sons."

Hermione laughed incredulously. "You two bet on who would find the dress?" Both ginger witches nodded, Ginny laughing and Mrs. Weasley looking slightly uncomfortable but smug. "And here I thought they all got it from Arthur!"

They laughed and joked together as the sales lady came and took Hermione's measurements and the dress was ordered.

They got distracted on their way out by all the sparkly items in the accessory display but Narcissa spoke up. "You know dear, I've got the Black and Malfoy jewelry… there's really anything you could possibly want between the two collections. Why don't you look at it before you buy something new? Isn't it tradition to wear something heirloom?" Hermione graciously accepted the offer. She hoped that at least some of the jewelry would be curse-free so that, as a Muggleborn, she could safely wear it.

Coming home that night she teased Draco, making up all sorts of descriptions of her dress… it was hot pink… it had a very large bustle in the back and hoops in the skirt, live butterflies were going to fly out from under the skirt when they were declared man and wife. She'd cracked herself up with that one so he didn't believe anything she said about it.

That evening as she was looking for her lip balm in her hand bag she came across a folded piece of paper that she didn't recognize. Pulling it out, it appeared to be a partial sheet of paper, ripped from a larger piece. There was a hastily scrawled message written on it that made her blood run cold. She recognized that handwriting.

_How can you sit and eat and laugh with these women like you have the right to be happy? _

How had this gotten into her bag? The answer was obvious: The Arsehole had been close enough to put it in there himself. She felt the hair on her arms stand up... he'd seen her out to brunch that morning. He'd been close enough to touch her. She shuddered and fled the living room to find Draco.

* * *

A/N: For reference, the dress Narcissa picked out is like Kate Middleton's... I'm in love with it. As always, thanks for reading!

-insert shameless plea for reviews here-


	14. Clever Chapter Title

A/N: Hi! It's been so long and I'm super sorry. My muse has been on hiatus and rarely checks in... I'm not sure what's up with her. Anyway, please forgive my lapse and enjoy the chapter. :)

* * *

Draco was reclining on their bed reading when he heard Hermione calling his name. He looked up startled when she rushed in. His stomach clenched at the look on her face. "Why are you so pale? What happened?" He lowered his book and straightened up while she hurried over and sat down on the bed next to him, silently handing him a piece of paper. He felt fury building as he read the short note. "Son of a fucking bitch." He resisted the urge to crumple note in his fist. "What the hell? Is he following you?"

"He might've seen me at lunch or something, we were in muggle Paris the whole afternoon…. it… erm." She looked nervous and he scowled at her. What was she nervous about telling him?

"Spit it out, Granger."

"Heputitinmyhandbag!" She said in a rush, looking at him with a worried expression, gnawing her bottom lip and twisting her fingers together in her lap. He wondered if she was worried about his reaction or about the situation. Probably both. It was in her handbag… he forced himself to take a deep breath.

"It was in your handbag." He said in a flat voice. She nodded and he could see the fear in her eyes. The bastard got close enough to get a note in her handbag? He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close… trying to convince himself not to completely lose his fucking mind at the thought of The Arsehole anywhere near her. He swallowed the impulse to berate her for letting her guard down, knowing that it would only lead to a row.

Instead he took a deep breath and said, "I assume you'd have noticed anything strange… between you and mother, I can't believe one of you didn't notice anything." All of them paid an absurd amount of attention to their surroundings, Hermione was no different. A product of spending your adolescence on the lookout for people who wanted to kill you, he supposed. This was The Arsehole's fault, not hers he reminded himself. The three years of peace had barely lessened their vigilance and he must've been very sneaky to get it in her bag without her noticing. It was already established that the tosspot was sneaky.

"I was with our mums and Molly and Ginny all day… none of them mentioned anyone acting strangely. They know what's been going on, they'd have mentioned it." She said, straightening up and pushing her hair out of her face.

He nodded. He was surprise that someone had gotten away with it with his mother near. Nothing got by that woman.

"Alright." He stood and pulled her up with him. "I'm going to look at your memories and see if I can find when he put the note in your bag." He faced her and raised his wand to perform the Legilimency.

"No!" She slapped a hand over her eyes as if he was going to break his way forcibly into her mind. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a calming breath.

"What do you mean _no_?"

"Exactly what I said! No! I bought my wedding dress today! You can't see that!" She peeked at him through her fingers and if he wasn't so bloody angry about the fucker getting so close to Hermione he might've laughed at her.

He sighed and threw up his hands in exasperation. "I hardly think that's more important than finding out who this fucker is!" He nearly shouted, knowing it was already a lost cause but feeling that he was right, nonetheless. It was just a dress!

She shook her head and cocked an eyebrow. "Harry can look; you're not going to see my dress." She said with a note of finality… she even did an odd head swivel that was all attitude. He didn't care for it and was thankful she rarely reverted to typical female things like that.

"He's not a Legilimens, I am." He protested reasonably but she just crossed her arms and jutted out a hip in the universal female signal that he'd just lost the argument.

He glared at her for a moment in false hope but her posture and expression did not waver. "Fuck it." He muttered under his breath, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, and then spoke out loud, "Let's call Potter again." He sighed in frustration.

They ended up with a living room full of aurors, Potter, She Weasel, even Mrs. Granger and his mum. None of them had noticed anything strange or anyone watching them. Draco was pacing while Potter leaned against the doorjamb and glared at everyone. Hermione was trying to keep her mum comfortable and, shockingly, his mother was chatting politely with Mrs. Weasley. The aurors had taken memories of the day from the ladies and had taken them back immediately to be reviewed while two men stayed to take statements from everyone.

None of the rest of them had had any notes delivered like the other instances. Ron was playing in Italy this weekend and his hotel suite was searched and was cleared. Neither Draco nor Harry had had anything strange happen. It was determined that it was a crime of opportunity: The Arsehole had just happened across Hermione out and about while they were at lunch in Diagon Alley and took the opening to put the note in her bag. Thankfully, it seemed that no one had followed them to Paris.

Hermione was just plating up some biscuits to serve their friends and family when an auror came back through the Floo.

He surveyed those present and seeming satisfied that everyone was supposed to be there he addressed the room at large. "We discovered a waitress who brought you drinks… she had a curiously blank expression on her face. You were all involved in conversation and she didn't speak to anyone; she just set the drinks down and tucked the note in your bag when she turned to go."

Hermione blew out a breath. "Well if she didn't speak to us I wouldn't have paid her much mind. I assume you're thinking an Imperious?" The auror nodded while Ginny explained in a whisper to a horrified Mrs. Granger what exactly that was.

Ultimately there was nothing to be done except question the waitress, which the aurors promptly left to do. It was decided, and commanded by Harry and Draco, that they would be on their guard and none of them would go out alone until the Arsehole had been apprehended.

Just after the aurors left they heard an owl in the kitchen and Hermione went in to discover that Mr. Weasley had sent on a copy of the _Evening Prophet_ that displayed a front page headline that made her groan out loud.

**_SHOCKING NEWS: A Baby for the Boy Who Lives and Malfoy Matriarch Lunches with Muggle  
_**_By Me, Myself, and I correspondent: Rita Skeeter_

_Today in Diagon Alley Ginny Potter and her mother Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger with her muggle mother Jean Granger and her future mother in law Narcissa Malfoy were seen at the posh La Sociere today for a long lunch. There are two things about this lunch that interest this reporter. The first is the suspicion that Mrs. Ginny Potter may be with child. What evidence of this is there, do you ask? First, all the ladies, excluding Mrs. Potter, indulged in several mimosas a piece during their two-hour lunch. Why would Mrs. Potter abstain unless she was with child? Ever since she and the savior of our world, the one and only Harry Potter, wed this past summer the wizarding community has kept a close watch on Ginny Potter's svelte figure, waiting for any sign of a baby bump. Alas, Mrs. Potter managed to both add to speculation and thwart any attempts to confirm a fuller figure by wearing a loose-fitting flowy blouse. Avoiding both alcohol and tight clothing? You have our attention Mrs. Potter! _

_The second aspect of the ladies at lunch adventure that interested this reporter was that the women appeared to be very friendly, even the pureblood Narcissa Malfoy and Hermione Granger's muggle mother Jean who were seated next to each other, without the buffer of war-heroine Hermione between them. It is well known that Narcissa Malfoy is…_

Hermione stopped reading there, not wanting to see them rehash Narcissa's history. She carried the paper back into the living room and handed it to Ginny.

"Arthur just sent this. Looks like speculation about baby Potter has officially begun." She explained to the room.

Ginny snatched it up and read the first paragraph aloud, wisely avoiding the second half of the article to avoid awkwardness between Narcissa and Jean. "Bloody hell. I've only gained half a stone! I thought we'd at least get away with it until later in the summer…"

Harry heaved a sigh from his position across the room. "Let the madness begin."

.

The weeks dragged by and they didn't see hide nor hair of The Arsehole. The press tried their best to get a confirmation about Ginny's pregnancy but they all responded with a tight lipped "No comment." Ginny was always sure to dress in dark colors and concealing cuts when she ventured out into the public. Hermione began to wonder if Ginny didn't enjoy toying with the media…

Spring turned to summer and Hermione made good progress on her book. She had powered through the distressing chapters involving the deaths of Harry's parents and the significance of Lily's sacrifice and had detailed Voldemort's attempt to regain life through the Philosopher's Stone and she was now working on all the drama and scheming surrounding the Triwizard Tournament.

She'd been working in secret on wedding plans with her mother- and Draco when he decided to have an opinion, deciding the menu for the caterer and finding musicians and picking flowers. It was hard to get everything done in secret and they had resorted to using mostly muggle vendors so that her mother was the main contact. By some grace the wizard media hadn't pursued her parents, she didn't really know why the fact that they were muggles would really stop them, but she wasn't going to dispute it or bring it to their attention.

One evening towards the end of June Draco came home from work to find her, unsurprisingly, at her computer. She appeared to be neck deep in notes and timelines and Tom Riddle.

"Remember the four-day limit we talked about?" He asked, leaning against the door frame and taking in her disheveled appearance. She started and whipped around to look at him. She blinked at him for a few seconds as her brain returned to real life.

"Has it been four days?" She glanced around and saw a stack of plates and a collection of glasses bearing evidence that Draco had brought her several meals. "Oh. Well…." She looked up at him sheepishly. "Let me go take a shower then. Do you want to go out to dinner?"

"No, I picked up takeaway. You've got ink on your nose, did you know? Just there…" He tapped his own nose and turned to go, she immediately rubbed at her nose where he'd indicated.

"Oh, drat. Okay. Well I'll be quick in the shower. Be right back." She stood up and stretched her back, groaning as every single vertebra in her back popped and cracked. Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end was really doing numbers on her body. She'd have to start getting some kind of exercise if she wanted that wedding dress to fit in a couple months… she filed that away on her mental to-do list. She sniffed the air; it smelled like he's brought some kind of Oriental food for dinner and her stomach growled.

Draco was so tolerant of her… eccentricities. He never complained about how much time she spent on the book; it was really surprising when she thought about his past… maybe he got all his whinging out while they were at school. He had complained incessantly and she was extremely grateful he seemed to have outgrown that… She really had to quit neglecting him though… maybe she'd make it up to him after dinner. She rushed through her shower, trying not to get distracted with thoughts of how she'd go about said distraction…

A few minutes later she met Draco at the table and kissed him on the cheek as she took her chair next to him. "Sorry I've been neglecting you again, love."

" 's fine. I knew what we were getting into when we started talking about you writing this book. You can make it up to me when we go on holiday in October." He smirked at her but winked and she knew he wasn't irritated.

"Holiday?" She laughed, "I'm fairly sure you mean our honeymoon?" He nodded. "We need to decide where we want to go and make reservations. We're cutting it close as it is."

"Yeah… we need to get on that. All we've decided so far is that we want to go somewhere we've never been, correct?" It was her turn to nod back at him. "And we don't want to go camping." He added, managing to keep a straight face.

"Merlin, no! I'll die a happen woman if I never have to camp again."

"Alright then. Do we want sand and sun? Snow and mountains? Culture? Adventure? Cuisine? Muggle? Wizard?"

"Ugh, now you're just overwhelming me on purpose. Wait- would you take a muggle holiday?" She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. She giggled as he squirmed uncomfortably.

"I'd really rather not, no. I was just running out of options to list and wanted to keep going until you yelled at me." He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Alright magical it is. I don't want snow. I want somewhere warm…" She began, her eyes glazed as she pondered places she'd like to go. "What do you think? What's our budget? That'll probably narrow down our options."

"Please. Mum told us as soon as she found out I'd proposed that she's paying, remember? She wants us to take a month and said she wouldn't settle for less than two weeks." He said, pushing his plate away as he finished his dinner.

"Yeah, I know." She squirmed guiltily; she felt a little awkward going on holiday with someone else paying for it. Maybe they'd just go to the chateau…

"You know she won't settle for anything but extravagance. You won't let her to pay for any of the wedding so you've got to concede to this," he added, once again making her wonder if he even needed Legilimency to read her mind.

"When we spring a surprise wedding on her she may change her mind about paying for even that!" She was really starting to worry if they were going to anger their friends and families by keeping the wedding date a secret until the day of. Would their feelings be hurt? Would they think she didn't trust them?

"Stop it." He said, cutting into her thoughts. She looked up surprised at him. "Stop worrying. This is about us and no one else. We're perfectly within our rights to keep this out of the press you saw what a circus Potter's wedding was. They'll understand why we did it after the surprise wears off."

She nodded, "You're right… I know." She sighed and rolled her shoulders trying to work out the lingering aches and tense muscles from sitting hunched over the keyboard for days on end.

"Come here." She opened her eyes and looked up to see Draco standing and holding his hand out to her. She raised her eyebrow questioningly at his commanding tone. "Come on, Granger. I can practically see the knots in your muscles."

She smiled sheepishly and let him lead her back to the bedroom. She laughed when he grasped the hem of her shirt and dragged it over her head. "Oh, you're going to give me a massage, how selfless of you. This is just an excuse to get my shirt of isn't it?"

"Oh hush, woman. It is a perk yes…" He smirked as his eyes raked over her now bare skin. "On the bed," he ordered.

"So bossy," she muttered under her breath as she acquiesced. But her slight annoyance at him melted the second that he pressed his fingers to her cramped muscles. She lay in somewhat of a stupor as he worked her knotted muscles into something that roughly resembled the consistency of bread pudding; she let out an involuntary moan as he attacked a particularly sore spot.

A little while later, when she was nearly catatonic, she registered his weight shift on the bed and felt his lips press against her shoulder. She hummed as she felt them graze across her skin and slowly trail down her spine towards her bum. She felt her belly clench as his lips and breath ghosted across her lower back and his fingertips played with the waistband of her loose trousers. He felt her shiver and laughed as he repeated his path and made her breath catch. As much as she had enjoyed the massage, she had a feeling that she'd be feeling even more relaxed in a little while…. She smiled to herself and her breathing picked up as she felt his fingers dip below the fabric of her trousers and push the elastic down her hip towards her knees. She smirked, awaiting a comment about the fact that she'd foregone knickers when she'd gotten dressed after her shower. It was funny that that was all it took to get a bloke in the mood… the absence of knickers. He didn't comment but felt his hand hesitate and heard his chuckle of appreciation. He made quick work of removing her trousers and quickly picked up where he'd left off, making her squirm with his lips, teeth, and tongue trailing down one leg to her ankle and then slowly back up the other. By the time he'd made his leisurely way back to her shoulder, her hands were fisted in the sheets and she could feel the flush on her cheeks.

He settled himself on top of her and gripped one hip tightly. His lips traced her ear and he pulled her hips up to meet his and she realized that at some point he'd divested himself of his clothing and had been enjoying himself just as much as she had been. His teeth latched on to shoulder and nudged her knees apart with one of his and they moaned in unison when he sank into her.

"I love you," He whispered into her ear and she responded in a breathless whisper as he began to move and continued on his task of turning her muscles to gelatin.

.

He was pacing in the dark, back and forth… to the wall and back to the bench. He stopped in front of his newspaper clippings that had now taken over one full wall of the tiny room. He glared malevolently at the photos of Ginny Potter. If that witch was pregnant… he fisted his hands in his hair and let out a stifled scream. How dare they go on with their lives? How dare they move on! How dare they live and be happy! How DARE they when his own life was in ruins. They would pay…

It was their fault. Their fault. Their fault!

* * *

A/N: Man, that guy's creepy!

So, I had enough trouble writing sexy scenes before because I'm kind of a prude, but now it's even worse. Why? Because my little sister has started reading this. Does it matter that she's a 28 year old mother of two? Apparently not. Silly I know, but it weirds me out. So you can blame her that my supposedly rated M story is really only T... :)


	15. Tombstone Blues

A/N: Here's a short chapter because I love you. And I feel guilty that it took me over a month for the last update. And because I love you.

So I realized that Draco's birthday was in early June… which I just sailed right by. Oops. So we're going to assume they had a nice, quiet birthday party that Hermione baked him a yummy cake, Harry wrote "Happy Birthday, Wanker" on his card and it was a happy day. It may be referenced in retrospect, but hopefully this clears up any confusion about it. My bad.

Also, Malfoy: Unknown is like thisclose to 100,000 views and that makes me super happy!

* * *

Hermione hummed happily as she thumbed through the morning's post. She was feeling thoroughly relaxed from Draco's massage and… other things from last night. She'd slept so well that she'd decided to get up and make him some French toast for breakfast… he'd sleep for a little while longer though since it was Saturday. She tossed aside the letter from her publisher- she'd deal with that later, binned an advert for Madam Malkin's- every magical robe and dress maker in England and on the continent was vying for the chance to dress the Malfoy-Granger wedding… little did they know she'd already purchased a dress, in a muggle shop no less! She chuckled a bit at the thought and came to a large, stiff envelope. Remembering that Draco's birthday had been a couple weeks earlier she thought it must be a card that someone sent late. Turning it over she saw that both of their names were on the envelope and frowned. Her stomach plummeted to somewhere around her ankles as she recognized the handwriting: The Arsehole.

She did her standard diagnostic spells on the envelope and when it came back clean she opened it with trembling fingers and read the printed text on the cover and then on the inside.

_A Belated Birthday Wish_

_Life got in the way and I missed your birthday… here's hoping it was wonderful!_

Scrawled underneath was a short message in the familiar handwriting:

_Fred Weasley's birthday was April first. Because of you he will never laugh again, never prank, and his mother will forever see his face in his twin. Did you remember? Did you mourn him? Have you accepted responsibility for his death?_

She stood frozen as images of Fred's blank face flashed through her memory… the blood dried in his hair, his frozen smile, the debris that had coated his pale skin. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and felt the fury bubbling up. How dare he bring Fred into this! She felt a tear blaze a trail down her cheek and her stomach turn. How DARE he! She was just collecting herself enough to take the card to show Draco. When someone pounded on the front door.

She whipped her wand out of her pocket and ran to look through the peep hole. She heard Draco stumble out of the bedroom, the loud knock apparently having woken him. A glance over her shoulder proved that he'd at least managed to get trousers on.

"Hermione! It's me. Open up!" She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Harry's voice. She reached for the lock but Draco's hand slammed on the door above her head, ensuring she didn't open it. She looked up at him, about to give him what-for when she realized that he couldn't know that it was Harry because Draco didn't know they'd both just gotten the card about Fred in the post.

"Prove it, Potter." Draco said gruffly, obviously not pleased about being woken up by banging on the front door. He'd be even less happy once he knew the reason for Harry's visit.

"Sit on it, Malfoy." They heard through the door. Draco tilted his head and pondered for a moment, "What did I say to you when I broke your nose on the train?"

"Fuck you, Malfoy!" Harry nearly yelled and Hermione ground her teeth and dug for patience, Draco didn't know what was going on yet. "You said it was for your father."

"So it was." Draco grinned until he opened the door and saw Harry's face. "What the hell, Potter? It's like… barely dawn." He complained as Harry came in, clad in pajamas also.

"Dawn? It's bloody half nine. I came because of this." He held up the card and Hermione nodded and held hers up as well.

"I'd just opened it when you knocked. I can't believe he used Fred this way." Her voice trembled and Draco released a stream of profanities after he snatched the card and read it quickly.

"Did Ginny see this?" He asked after he got over his initial rage.

They both blinked at his using her first name but Harry responded with only a small hesitation. "No, she's having a lie in. I told her I was dropping by, but she barely woke up. I suppose I'll have to tell her though."

"Do you remember where Ron is?" Hermione asked. It was going to be a painful surprise this morning when he got his post. "We should try and get him before he opens the post… it'd be better to hear it from us than be blindsided by the card." Harry ran his fingers through his hair and nodded grimly.

"He's in Barcelona this weekend. Their game isn't until tonight so hopefully he's slept in and hadn't gotten the post yet. Let me use the Floo." She gestured him to the fireplace and turned to Draco who was staring stonily at her. She blinked back tears again, thinking of Fred. His scowl relaxed a bit and he opened his arms. She immediately went to him and burrowed into his still bare chest.

"Why did you tell me you'd gotten that post, woman?" He growled into her ear.

"I was still standing there staring in shock when Harry knocked on the door." She mumbled, grateful for his embrace despite his frustration. She knew it wasn't really directed at her. They stood like that for a few minutes listening to Harry talk to the concierge and try to get access to Ron's room. Apparently whatever wizard he was talking to thought it was a prank and he wasn't really Harry Potter. Hermione chuckled when she heard Harry say "Look at my bleeding scar!" and knew he had to be at his wits' end.

She sighed and ran her hand down Draco's back as she pulled away. "I have a feeling we're going to have a crowd for breakfast. I'm going to go work on getting it ready." She looked up into his angry face before she walked away. "Kiss me, please." She said quietly, feeling like they both needed to take a moment and be reminded of what was important. His expression softened and he pulled her close and lowered his lips to hers, softly and sweetly and it made her throat ache again. He pulled back and studied her for a moment.

"I love you." He whispered and gave her another peck. "We'll get this bastard, I promise." She nodded and squared her shoulders.

"I love you, too." She gave him the best smile she could muster and headed for the kitchen. She tried to relax as she gathered the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. She had been expecting more birthday cards after Lavender's and had been wondering when the next would come. Now she knew. The fact that he'd sent it for Fred's birthday was especially cruel. The day itself had been hard enough without some sick stalker using it to get some kind of strange revenge against them. Harry and Draco entered the kitchen as she was whisking all the ingredients together into a batter.

"Ron's going to get dressed and join us. Malfoy said that you were making enough for all of us, so I invited him. I didn't tell him what's up yet, I just told him to bring his post with him and he agreed… eventually." Harry came in and poured himself himself a cup of coffee, completely at home in their kitchen.

"You should probably wake Ginny up. She'll be upset if she's kept out of the loop. And kept away from French toast." Hermione advised. Harry agreed and went to fetch his pregnant wife.

Hermione and Draco ended up with a full kitchen again with the two Weasleys plowing through French toast like it was their job, Ron with his usual poor manners and Ginny with the excuse of eating for two. They didn't need a house full of aurors this time, they just passed the cards through the Floo to add to the case file. Their frustration with the auror department grew with each event when they had no answers and never drew any closer to finding the person responsible for all these creepy things.

Ron and Ginny both looked grim but fairly stoic at the message contained in the twisted birthday cards. They were all in agreement that they would not tell any of the other Weasleys, especially George or Mrs. Weasley. They managed to have a fairly pleasant breakfast after the initial anger passed and enjoyed their visit with Ron before he had to return to Barcelona.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

He was pacing again… in the fetid gloom of the basement that he claimed as his sanctuary. Back and forth in front of his collage of articles and photos of _them_. He was perfecting the wording of the next birthday card. He wouldn't send them for several weeks but it had to be perfect. Perfect for him. This would be the hardest card as this was the hardest death. The one that was the reason for all of this. The one that had broken him. The one for his brother.


	16. Queen Jane Approximately

A/N: Hello my lovelies! Guess whose muse returned! It's amazing what a few reviews will do for my inspiration, keep 'em comin! And I ate some ice cream. A wise person once told me that ice cream increases efficiency... and cures all ills.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit short, but I think the next one will be up fairly quickly. :) We get to hear from Harry this time, which is fun. On another note: do y'all actually read the author's notes or do you skip straight to the story?

* * *

One Saturday morning a pajama-clad Harry Potter made his sleepy way into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee and stared blearily out of the tiny window over the sink as he sipped. His lovely wife was still abed and he knew better than to risk life and limb by waking her up. Resigning himself to spending a couple quiet hours on his own he plopped down in a kitchen chair and stared around at the small kitchen in their loft. He might miss this place when they moved, whenever that happened. It was the first place that had been his… the first place he'd chosen. He hadn't had a choice before. He and Ginny been looking for a new home since the spring… it was now the end of September and they still hadn't found anything they loved. He thought again of the destroyed house in Godric's Hollow. Technically it was his. The ministry had put the plaque up in front of it and had left it alone. He was torn… on one hand his family had lived there happily for a little while, but on the other hand every witch and wizard in England knew exactly where it was. He sighed. The notoriety if the spot pretty much removed the house as an option despite the lure of rebuilding and living in the home of his parents. Besides that, would he want to live in the home where his parents were murdered? Probably not. Godric's Hollow really only held awful memories for him. His parents… the fiasco with Bathilda Bagshot… he shuddered, seeing Nagini crawling out of the poor woman's body in his mind's eye. That still haunted his nightmares.

He shook himself out of his musings as the owl bearing the _Daily Prophet_ came soaring in the window. He paid the bird and flipped the paper open, idly curious if he was featured today. Sure enough. He rolled his eyes at yet another article about Ginny's pregnancy. At five months along she now had an undeniable baby belly. He loved it… it made a fantastic pillow. He scanned the front page and tossed it on the table when nothing caught his interest, maybe he'd read it when he was more awake.

The post owl came right on the heels of the _Prophet_ owl and dropped a small stack of envelopes and this week's _Quibbler_ next to him on the table. His gaze immediately focused on the thick card stock envelope. He grabbed it and ground his teeth as he looked at the now familiar handwriting. Not another one, dammit!

He tore open the envelope and whipped the card open without bothering to read the front of it. God, who would this one be for?

_Today is Colin Creevey's birthday. He will never again be excited over the wonders of magic, never take another photograph... he is yet another young life lost in the Battle of Hogwarts. Ended before his time because of you._

Harry stared blankly at the card… the image of Colin's tiny body being carried inside by Oliver was forever stamped on his memory. Colin… the silly young Gryffindor who trailed his every move just wanting to take his photograph. He sighed, this card wasn't devastating like the last on they had gotten, for Fred, but it still made his stomach squirm uncomfortably. Colin had hero-worshipped him. Maybe this arsehole was right… if he had killed Voldemort more quickly these people would still be alive…

Intellectually he knew that there was really no way that things could've gone any faster and there was nothing they could do about it now anyways. But some days it was hard to remember that Voldemort and his Death Eaters killed those people, not him.

He followed the normal procedure- that had unfortunately become a habit- and headed for the front door to go see if Hermione'd received one as well. Surely she had.

He opened his front door and was nearly plowed over by a disheveled Malfoy.

"What the hell?" He demanded, giving Malfoy a shove since their combined momentum had brought them inside each other's personal space.

"You got one?" Malfoy asked, ignoring the shove.

"Yeah. The fucker." Harry gestured Malfoy into the living room. "Where's Hermione? I was on my way to see if you-"

Draco cut him off. "Get Weasley in the Floo, neither of you are to mention this to Hermione today."

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, feeling his anger build, why the hell was he being so pushy?

"Look, Potter." Draco took a couple aggravated steps across the room. "You cannot tell Hermione we got more post from this fucker today."

"Why the bloody hell not? I'm not going to lie to her, Malfoy!" Harry said in a furious whisper, doing his best not to wake Ginny.

"Look…. Goddammit, today is…it's... you just can't tell her. Not today." Harry looked at Malfoy in confusion... he'd rarely seen the other man this flustered.

"Why? What's today? Is she worried about the silly dinner party?" he asked.

"Ugh, dammit! Look…. It… it's not a dinner party, Potter." Malfoy came even closer and stared hard into his eyes.

"What? I… she… she invited us ages ago…told me to get new dress robes. What the hell is going on?"

"We're getting bloody _married_ tonight!" Malfoy blurted out, fed up with dancing around the issue. "Get Weasley, and tell him that we cannot let her worry about this today. We can tell her next week. Let her have today be about her."

Harry shook his head dazedly… there's no way he could've said… "Married? Today? …. Are you sure?"

Draco spun around and took a deep breath, obviously reigning in his temper. "I'm going to pretend you didn't ask such a stupid question. Now. Get in the fucking floo and get Weasley or I'm going to hold you personally responsible for cocking up our wedding day!"

.

That evening Harry stood nervously in Hermione and Draco's living room with a pile of portkeys in a basket on the kitchen table and a list of guests and their security questions with correct answers on a clipboard in his hand. Hermione and Draco were adamant that no press would be at the wedding and no sneak photographs would appear in the Prophet or any other publication. They were going the same route he and Ginny had gone by allowing Dennis to sell two wedding photos to satisfy the public and Luna would write it up to be printed in The Quibbler… they were all tired of the Prophet and its nonsense.

He couldn't believe Hermione had organized her wedding without telling him. He'd had all day to come to terms with it, but it was still shocking. Ron had gaped like a fish when he'd been told but Malfoy had sworn them to secrecy and had stormed out of his loft with a "You didn't see me," shot angrily over his shoulder. Harry reckoned Malfoy, who was normally fairly grouchy anyway, must be very nervous about the wedding because he'd been nearly unbearable this morning. They were lucky that Hermione had decided to spend the night at her mum and dad's and had missed the creepy birthday card. Draco was right; it would've been a shame if she'd had this guilt-inducing card on her mind on her wedding day.

A knock sounded on the door and startled him out of his musings; he pushed thoughts of The Arsehole out of his mind and focused on his task and the hopefully pleasant evening ahead. He opened it to find Narcissa Malfoy carrying Scorpius on her hip.

"Mr. Potter, how are you?" She asked, entering as he held the door open for her. When she saw the empty living room she looked at him questioningly. "Am I early? I could've sworn Hermione said half past five…"

Harry smiled at Scorpius eying him curiously and closed the door firmly. "No you're right on time. Before I can explain I have to ask you a question." He consulted his clipboard and cleared his throat. "Right. What was Mal- erm, Draco's first word?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of the reason behind his questioning. "….Mine," she answered cautiously.

Harry confirmed that it was correct and laughed a little. "That figures." He put down his clipboard and turned back to her. "Well Mrs. Malfoy, you aren't here for a dinner party. Draco asked me to apologize for not telling you, but the pair of them didn't tell anyone. I only found out when I got here a half hour ago and he gave me this clipboard. They're getting married tonight." He'd found out this morning, but still. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

"_What_?" Narcissa gasped, her eyes widening.

Harry nodded confirmation. "They are determined that no press be there so they've kept it completely secret. I've got a portkey that will take the two of you to… the… place. I don't even know where it is." He shrugged apologetically and tugged at his collar. They owed him for dealing with this; it was definitely one of the more awkward of his adventures.

"But…." Narcissa looked down at her robes, "At least she said it was a formal party. My word…. Can't believe he didn't tell me..." She trailed off in a mutter.

"Would you like your portkey?" He asked…. he really needed to get her gone before the next guest showed up.

"Oh, yes, I suppose so." She said, suddenly looking slightly flustered. She reached for the eyeglasses he handed to her and he tapped it with his wand. She clutched Scorpius tightly to her and to their amusement he said "Bye Hawee!" just as they vanished.

Harry laughed to himself, 'Hawee' always made him laugh. He'd be a little sad when the kid was finally able to say his R's properly. Without Lucius' influence he was actually a sweet kid. Spoiled rotten, but sweet.

Another knock sounded on the door and he opened it to find George and Angelina.

"Harry! How are ya, mate?" George asked, giving him a thump on the back. Before he could answer the ginger looked over his head and said "Blimey, where is everyone? We aren't early are we?" He turned to Angelina who looked confused and shook her head.

"No, you're right on time c'mon in." He went through the same song and dance as with Narcissa, asking George "What did you take Malfoy for at last year's Quidditch World Cup?"

George laughed, "Fifty galleons, the prat actually though Argentina would beat Scotland. With a seeker like Kirkland, there was no way that would happen!"

And so it went. Each person was shocked and slightly outraged when they discovered the actual reason for the gathering. Most understood the couple's desire to keep out unwanted guests, but then some people like Molly Weasley took personal offense.

Harry opened the door for Molly and Arthur and they greeted each other with warm hugs. Mrs. Weasley immediately asked where everyone was.

"Well, it's not a dinner party… it's actually their wedding and I've got a portkey that'll take you to the venue." He rushed out in one breath, nervous of his mother-in-law's reaction.

"What?! They're getting married… tonight?! Why didn't she tell us?!" She took a breath and Harry knew he had to derail her before she gathered steam.

"I'm sorry, Molly. Just answer this question for me and you can get your portkey and go. Erm…" He consulted his clipboar, "What is Draco's favorite meal that you make?"

"Well, steak and kidney pie, of course."

.

An hour later, after the well-orchestrated departure of the guests was complete Harry took his own portkey and found himself standing in the lane in front of a beautiful old church. He'd been here before; it was the church Hermione had gone to as a child, he'd attended Easter services with them a couple years ago. Hermione really was brilliant; there was no way the media would find them in this little muggle church.

He made his way inside and set out to find Hermione, he had little doubt that his duties for the day were done plus he needed to tease her a bit. On his way in, however; it was Malfoy that he found instead.

"Potter, good. Everything went smoothly?" Malfoy asked, looking slightly twitchy.

"'Course. Aside from half of them wanting to hex me because they were mad you two kept it a secret. You'd better go give your mum a hug, she was quite shocked."

"Yeah, I talked to her already. She'll be fine." Malfoy squirmed a moment and then thrust something into Harry's hand. "We are not mates, Potter. But Weasleyette wouldn't walk back down the aisle with anyone else so… you have to stand up for me."

Harry looked down into his hand and saw Hermione's ring. Stand up for him… what? "What? Like be your best man?" He remembered that Malfoy had lost all of his friends over the course of the war and, despite what either of them said, they got on very well.

"Obviously." Draco drawled out, sounding eerily like Severus Snape. Harry started grinning… wanting desperately to tease Malfoy about being his mate. "Shut it, Potter. I can hardly stand you." Malfoy cut him off before he could start.

"If you want me to call you Draco, you've lost your damn mind."

"You start calling me by my first name and I'll hex you into next week." Malfoy threatened and made Harry's grin bigger. How bizarre that he was friends with Draco Malfoy. He had a feeling that, other than Hermione of course, he was actually Draco's best friend. And what with Ron on the road all the time, he spent more time with Malfoy than any of his other friends…and actually enjoyed his company. Who'd have thought?

"Don't worry, _Malfoy_, I won't tell anyone that you love me." Who was he to pass on teasing Malfoy when he was in an uncomfortably sentimental situation?

"Oh, fuck off, Potter." Draco glared at him.

"You don't want a hug do you? Only I don't think I actually want to touch you…" Harry bit his tongue to keep from laughing. He saw Dennis peeking through the door taking rapid-fire photos of them bickering; he darted away before Malfoy noticed. Oh, they would be brilliant… they'd capture the very essence of his and Malfoy's relationship: Draco looking pissy and Harry laughing at him.

"Oh, bloody fucking hell. Go find Hermione and make sure she's not panicking. And don't lose that ring." Draco ordered as he glared and turned on his heel to stalk off.

"I love you, too, Malfoy!" He raised his voice at the blonde's retreating back.

"Eat a dick, Potter!" He shouted over his shoulder.

"Not yours, I hope!" Harry laughed and bounced on his toes for a moment. Yes, it was time to find the bride… his work here was done.

* * *

A/N: Remember in the HBP movie when Harry takes the Liquid Luck and is all funny and sarcastic? ("By all means come along, sir!") That's the Harry that I pictured in this scene. :)


	17. Tangled Up In Blue

Hello! Most of y'all seemed to remember that the only brothers, besides the twins, were Dennis and Colin Creevey. So EVIL HE's birthday card about his brother had to be Dennis... since George wouldn't ever do anything like that.

So, now that we know who EVIL HE is, let's see how the wedding goes. :) Tell me what you think!

* * *

Draco stood at the altar, the picture of Malfoy-calm, cool, and collected. He shot a glance at Potter, fidgeting to his right, waiting on Weasleyette and Hermione in turn. He'd never admit to it but he was grateful for Potter's incessant chatter over the last half hour while they were waiting for the ceremony to start. He wasn't so nervous when he was pretending to be annoyed. Soft music began playing and he was pleased to see She Weasel begin her walk down the aisle towards them. He had to admit, she looked lovely. And every red-blooded wizard could plainly see that pregnancy had done amazing things for her bust. Lucky Potter. He smirked as he noticed that her gait had started to change and while she wasn't at a waddle yet, it was clearly on its way. Was he allowed to tease her about it or would Hermione smack him? Eh, might be worth it.

The music changed and their small collection of friends and family all stood and craned their necks to try and get a glimpse of the bride. His hands started sweating and he resisted the urge to wipe them on the trousers of his bloody tuxedo while everyone was turned the other way. Malfoys did not sweat, why did this witch still make him sweat?! He mentally cursed this wretched clothing and hoped to high heaven that his future in laws realized the sacrifice he'd made by wearing muggle clothes instead of wizard robes so that they could display their daughter's wedding photos without people questioning anything. Finally, the doors opened and Hermione and her father walked through arm in arm. He didn't hear the murmurs or rustling of the congregation, he didn't hear the clicks of Creevey's camera, everything but Hermione faded away. Looking back he'd call himself a sentimental sap, but there wasn't much he could do about it. She was wearing a happy, albeit shy, smile and her cheeks were pink from all the attention. The fit of the dress nearly made him embarrass himself in front of everyone. She looked stunning. One word kept bouncing around in his brain: _mine_. He smiled at the thought… this witch was _his_ from here on out. Brilliant.

The ceremony passed in a blur, before he knew it Potter was pressing Hermione's ring into his hand and he was sliding it onto her finger, smiling slightly at her tear-filled eyes. He repeated the words Kingsley told him and watched quietly as Hermione repeated the rite. Her tears finally spilled over as she slid the Malfoy ring onto his finger and promised to love, honor, and cherish him. He passed her the handkerchief that he'd kept in his pocket for just this reason, she gave a watery laugh and their friends and family echoed it.

Kingsley said something that he could finally pay attention to. "Draco, you may now kiss your wife." Draco grinned and bent down to give Hermione a fairly chaste kiss. He didn't condone overt public displays of affection and even though he wasn't religious, he didn't feel a house of worship was an appropriate place for the kind of kiss he'd like to have from her at the moment. He'd collect on that kiss a bit later…

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present… Draco and Hermione Malfoy."

Hermione beamed up at Draco, feeling a bit dazed. He took her hand and nestled it into the crook of his elbow and they turned to face their loved ones, who began clapping. She could see her mum dabbing at her eyes with a lace handkerchief and her dad red faced, holding his tears back. Narcissa smiled and seemed to also be crying quietly. Mrs. Weasley was crying harder than either of their actual mothers. Hermione started as Ginny tapped her on the arm and handed her bouquet back; Hermione sent the smiling witch a grateful nod, she'd completely forgotten about the flowers. She looked back up at Draco as he led them back down the aisle and felt the tears welling up again as they made it out of the doors at the back of the church… she was utterly overwhelmed. He swept her down a short hallway and ducked into a small room before any of the congregation could follow them. Once inside he grinned and pulled her close.

"So. You… are my wife." He sent her a cheeky grin and kissed her gently. "Mrs. Malfoy."

"Oh, my. That's your mum I'm pretty sure." She giggled and wound her arms around his waist.

"You'll get used to it." He pressed his lips to hers again and they shared a less then chaste kiss, grateful to be without forty onlookers. When she started breathing heavily and stood on her toes to get closer he pulled away.

"Unless you want me to toss your skirt up over your head and have my wicked way with you, we should rejoin everyone. I doubt you want to finish our photos with your dress wrinkled and rumpled.

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm, but immediately checked her dress for wrinkles.

"You look stunning, wife." Her head snapped up at his use of the word 'wife' and she couldn't stop her smile in response to his happy smirk. She'd never seen him look as elated as he did at the moment.

"Thank you, husband." She giggled… husband! "You look dashing." She fingered the green pocket square in tuxedo and took a deep breath… no more crying! She just couldn't believe that they were really getting their happy ending. When they had been running and hiding and searching for horcruxes, she had truly believed that they would die at any moment and that they would never had the chance to do anything with their lives but attempt to kill Voldemort. She'd never been happier to be wrong. She looked up into his eyes and saw him studying her and wondered if his thoughts were in line with hers… it seemed like they were a statistically improbable amount of the time. She smiled at him, and lifted her hand and cupped his cheek. "I love you."

He smiled softly down at her and her breath nearly caught in her throat at the depth of affection she saw in his eyes. He rarely let it be so plainly seen. Even by her, and she knew that she could read him better than anyone… but only because he allowed it. He was still in full control of his Malfoy mask. The intimacy of the moment was interrupted by a sharp _snick_ near the door. Startled, she turned and saw Dennis with his face obscured by his camera.

"Creevey." Draco grated out, obviously annoyed at his intrusion.

Apparently deciding that he wasn't going to get another photo opportunity at the moment he lowered the camera and Hermione caught a strange expression on his face… he looked…. conflicted.

"Dennis? Are you alright?" She took a step forward, suddenly feeling bad that she'd tricked him into the photography and hadn't warned him that the evening wasn't just a dinner party… perhaps he wasn't feeling well but couldn't tell her no because it was such an important event.

Dennis cleared his throat and straightened his thin shoulders. "Oh, yes, fine. You two just looked so… happy." His eyes got a little far away. "Sometimes… sometimes it's hard… after everything that's happened…." He seemed to collect himself almost as soon as he realized what he'd said and he shook his head as if to clear it. "Merlin! I'm sorry! Let's erm… Oh! Everyone is waiting in the sanctuary to finish all the photos so we can get to the reception. Let's not keep them waiting, yeah?" He said in a rush.

Hermione blinked as his abrupt change in mood, sometimes it was so easy to forget how young he was and how hard losing Colin must've been. She smiled kindly at him and gestured him to lead the way, feeling that he'd rather she didn't comment on his thought that had slipped out. They followed him out of the room.

The reception seemed much larger than their forty-some-odd person guest list hinted at. She supposed that most of those guests were very boisterous people and they created the energy and volume of a group twice their size. Alcohol flowed freely and loosened many an inhibition. George and Angelina attempted to swing dance with such enthusiasm that Angelina suffered a wardrobe malfunction, much to George's amusement. She seemed to take it in stride and with a subtle sticking charm was back in step nearly immediately. Somehow Mr. Weasley sweet talked Mrs. Weasley to join them and suddenly Hermione realized where the Weasley's got their particular brand of crazy: it was a toxic blend of both parents. Harry had let loose and imbibed much more than he usually did and serenaded Ginny by lip synching _My Heart Will Go On_ with many dramatic hand gestures and facial expressions. It was unanimously decided that he would never live it down. Dennis captured the whole event for posterity and Hermione thought it was a brilliant ploy to get Ginny to stop making him watch _Titanic_ with her.

Her mum and dad seemed to enjoy themselves also, especially her dad who couldn't resist a dance floor. He danced with not only her mum, but Molly, Andromeda, George, and even Narcissa. There had been one sticky moment when Hermione had seen him walking dazedly away after a short dance with Fleur… she'd had to explain to a rapidly-reddening Jean Granger the effect that the Delacour women had on men, especially unprepared ones. She pointed out Ron staring bemusedly at Gabrielle across the dance floor and explained that even men who were used to them got dazzled frequently.

It seemed even Draco wasn't immune to the atmosphere and had guided Hermione in a flawless, sexy, and extremely impressive tango that left Hermione flushed and their friends and family more than a little amazed. Of course the man would be able to tango on top of his many other talents. The evening eventually wound down to the final slow dance and Hermione found herself grateful to be wrapped in Draco's arms: to be such a small party it had been very exuberant and she was quite tired… she was pretty sure she had danced with every single person in the room… wizard or witch. She rested her head on his chest and snuggled into his embrace while the dance floor filled up with couples. She watched them absently as she and Draco turned, more swaying than dancing at this point. She saw Luna's yellow robes coordinating remarkably well with Dean's dark blue as he led her in a surprisingly smooth waltz. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley twirled past them and Hermione stifled a giggle as the look on Molly's face left no doubt that Arthur wouldn't be going to sleep any time soon. Looking past them, she frowned slightly at the sight of Narcissa sitting by herself at a table off to the side. Of course she didn't have a date… Lucius was still in Azkaban, but she hated that Narcissa didn't have a dance partner. Her new mother-in-law was alternating between smiling fondly at her and Draco dancing and down at Scorpius who was dead to the world, asleep on two chairs pushed together. Hermione's line of sight to her toddler brother-in-law was interrupted by a set of broad shoulders and she recognized Charlie Weasley's dark auburn pony tail. Hermione squinted; convinced she wasn't seeing what she thought she was seeing… Narcissa glanced uncertainly down at Scorpius then back up at Charlie…. then she took his offered hand and stood. Charlie turned to face the dance floor and Hermione saw a small, confident smile on his face and though it clearly spoke appreciation of the female form, it was still well within the realm of polite. Her eyes widened as Narcissa returned the smile shyly and allowed him to lead her out onto the floor. Narcissa had never looked as young as she did right then… she was a beautiful witch and she'd married and had Draco young… she was only forty-one, plenty young by wizarding standards, but Hermione had never seen this particular expression on her face before. She watched them for a couple more moments as they seemed to talk easily and he even made her laugh a couple of times. She was grateful that Draco had his cheek resting on her head and was facing the opposite direction… she doubted he'd appreciate his mother dancing with anyone that wasn't his father, even if it was obviously innocent. She glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed this strange couple and was relieved when she saw that Ginny was looking at the couple with the expression of one who'd been hit with a Confundus. Good, she smirked. They would talk about it later.

She took one more look at the unlikely pair… Charlie was surprisingly graceful and they actually looked really good together. Amused at her thoughts that were getting away from her, she turned her attention back to her new husband and tilted her head to get a kiss as the final chords of the song were playing out. She tried her best to ignore the clicking of Dennis' camera, knowing that the more natural the photos looked, the more she'd like them when they were printed. It was easier than she thought, she'd heard that camera click so many times that afternoon that she barely noticed it anymore.

When the last note of the song trailed away she pulled herself out of Draco's arms and stepped back. It was time to get her things together so their family could give them a sendoff. They were staying the rest of the weekend in some swanky hotel in London of Draco's choosing. Due to the secrecy of the wedding date and location, they'd decide to have a delayed honeymoon and would go in a month or two. Plus they simply hadn't been able to decide on where to go… so it was still in the works.

Several people made a mad dash to the bar for last call and she bade Draco wait for her while she took care of a couple things before they made their exit. She gestured to Ginny to follow her and they disappeared into the bride's suite where they'd left their things scattered about.

"Will you unlace me?" She toed off her shoes as Ginny walked over to her. "I'm so ready to get out of this dress. I love it, but I'm quite ready to take a deep breath."

"It's a shame to wear a dress like this for only a few hours." Hermione made a noise of agreement and Ginny went to work, tugging and pulling on the satin ribbons. "It was a beautiful wedding, Hermione. And I've never seen such a reception. It was really the most fun I've ever had at a wedding!"

"Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it." Hermione let out an involuntary moan as Ginny got the last of the laces lose and she finally got that good breath. It was like surfacing after being too long underwater... the things women did to look beautiful...

"Want help getting into your going away outfit?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, no, I'm good. Thanks. It's much simpler than this gown. I'm just going to take a moment and use the loo and I'll be out. Thanks, Gin."

She quietly and quickly bustled around the room taking care of the necessities and was just shrinking the gown to fit into her small bag when she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She had a sudden, intense feeling of someone watching her malevolently. She forced herself to continue her smooth movements as she zipped her bag and, as subtly as possible, slipped her wand out of her sleeve.

"Hermione," a voice spoke from behind her and her nerves sharpened even more. The word was spoken so quietly that she couldn't identify the owner of the whisper. She slowly turned around, her wand clutched tightly, to face whomever had managed to sneak up on her.

She looked up, surprised by the unexpected person standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Merlin, Dennis… you startled me!"


	18. Desolation Row

Hey y'all, I'm sorry to have left it on a cliffhanger! Sort of. Hehehe.

* * *

"Merlin, Dennis… you startled me!" Hermione breathed a sigh of relief; she'd really felt some fear for a moment there… she'd thought someone had been sneaking up on her. She paused though when she got a good look at his face… he looked pale and a little clammy. Oh dear, he was ill after all. "Are you feeling alright? You look a bit peaky…" She took a step closer, concerned.

He twitched and fumbled with the camera in his hands. He nodded stiffly, but made no other answer.

"I feel really terrible to have sprung this on you; it's such a lot of work to photograph a wedding. I know we discussed the terms earlier this afternoon, but I feel like you didn't have enough time to really think about it…" She waited for him to say something, but he just stared at her, looking completely blank. "And you're not well on top of it. Look, I really appreciate you doing this for me… how about you sell two photos instead of just one? That'll double your profit…." She smiled tentatively at him, really wishing he'd say something to assuage her guilt and lessen the awkwardness; she was going to start babbling soon.

He closed his eyes for a moment and clenched and unclenched his free hand a few times. Her guilt was now transforming into worry… he was really unwell. His eyes flickered open and he resumed staring at her. She thought frantically of what to do for him… he had no family or close friends here and she had no idea how to contact anyone for him… everyone would be wondering where she was soon. Draco hated to be kept waiting.

"Let's…erm… let's get you to Mrs. Weasley, she'll get you home and looked after, yeah?" She took a step closer. Mrs. Weasley would see that he was taken care of… she liked to mother everyone.

"No!" He all but shouted, making her blink in surprise. He cleared his throat. "I mean, um, I'm fine… just tired." He took a step toward her, she felt her alarm increase slightly… why was he acting to strange? Someone needed to make sure he got home alright…

"Hermione?" She let out a small breath at the sound of Draco's voice in the hall.

She cleared her throat, "In here!" She turned to fuss with her bag for a moment to break eye contact with Dennis' strange stare. She picked it up and turned to meet Draco coming in the room.

As he came through the door and Dennis seemed to fold in on himself and he stepped away from Draco. "Planning on coming away with me, wife? Or are you going to hide out in here?" She smiled despite the lingering awkwardness…. Her eyes flicked back to Dennis, who seemed tiny next to her tall husband.

"Of course I'm coming; I was just getting my things together and having a quick word with Dennis." She picked up her bag and stepped toward Draco, who offered his arm. She glanced at Dennis again as they passed him, gently touched his arm. "I'll talk to you next week?"

He nodded jerkily.

"Thanks again for this, Dennis. I hope you'll forgive me for it being last minute…" She gave his arm a squeeze.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, next week."

She let Draco guide her out of the room and down the hall.

"I think he fancies you." He whispered.

"Oh, don't be silly." She countered, swatting him.

"Oh I don't know. If the little twat doesn't stop watching you like he does, I may have to hurt him." He smiled slightly, but the irritation was real.

"He doesn't watch me, I hardly think you need to be jealous of Dennis Creevey," she protested as they neared the front door and their guests.

"I'm certainly not jealous, but yes, he does watch you." And with that last comment they were spotted by everyone who was congregated by the front door to see them off to their hotel. Hermione laughed, Dennis forgotten, as instead of the muggle tradition of throwing rice everyone held up their wand and shot a multitude of different colored sparks. Hermione giggled madly as she saw Kingsley spring into action Obliviating the muggle event coordinators and a passing cyclist. They waved one last farewell and Disapparated to their hotel.

Their 'room' was larger than their flat and featured a sweeping view of the city. The cream colored carpet and rich furniture spoke of elegance and privilege. She wasn't the least bit surprised that Draco had selected it; being with a Malfoy had definitely opened her eyes to the finer things in life. Now she was a Malfoy herself. She giggled a bit. Hermione Malfoy. She'd been practicing signing it for a while now…. She still couldn't do it with a straight face.

She kicked her shoes off, groaning in relief, and dropped her small bag on the sofa. She saw Draco heading toward the bar, yanking off his jacket, cummerbund, and bow tie as he went and left a trail of discarded garments in his wake. She headed straight for the balcony, beckoned by the bright lights glimmering in the night. She took a deep breath as the breeze hit her face and lifted her hair off her neck. She leaned on the railing and breathed deep as the breeze refreshed her, it had been an exhausting evening and she'd had a bit too much to drink. Honestly, if it hadn't been their wedding night she'd have gone straight to bed and Draco would not be getting lucky this evening….but that would be a shame. She rubbed her temples…. Her head had started to swim there towards the end of the reception; every time she'd turned around someone was pressing a glass of wine into her hand. Merlin forbid the bride have to fetch her own drink… or leave her wedding less than half-pissed. She was fairly dazed by the whole evening… it had absolutely flown by. Thank Merlin there was photographic evidence of everything, because she felt sure that looking back tomorrow it would all be a blur.

She felt Draco come up behind her and place a hand on each side of hers on the railing. She leaned back into him and sighed as he pressed his lips to the side of her throat. She immediately felt her skin begin to tingle. They stood that way for a couple of moments, simply enjoying the night and each other's quiet company.

"We have champagne and some hors-d'ouevres inside if you're interested." He spoke quietly, his lips skimming over her ear.

"I've had more than enough to drink I'm sure, but I hardly got to eat. Every time I tried to take a bite someone came to congratulate me. So a snack would be good." He retrieved the snacks from the bar and they sat quietly, she on his lap in a comfortable chair, while they snacked on food she barely tasted… butterflies began to churn in her stomach. This was her wedding night… eek! She wasn't exactly nervous; she'd been sleeping with him for over two years after all, but still… the wedding night. Kind of a big deal.

After a few minutes she stood and looked at him over her shoulder. He grinned and immediately stood to follow her. Before she made it to the door he scooped her off her feet and carried her through to the bedroom. Was being carried across the threshold a wizarding tradition as well? She'd ask him tomorrow.

Once in the bedroom he lay her gently down on top of the impossibly soft bedding and peeled her clothes off carefully, kissing every inch of skin that he exposed. She was swimming in sensation and emotion. The buzz of wine smoothing out rough edges and relaxing her so that she wasn't over thinking things as was her tendency. He lowered her to the soft sheets and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that somehow managed to be passionate and sweet at the same time. He took his time and all but worshipped her, head to foot. Well this certainly worth staying up for.

They loved each other slowly and thoroughly until they collapsed in a tangled heap of unsteady limbs. She kissed across his jaw and whispered, "I love you."

"Mmm… mine," was his reply.

* * *

While the newlyweds were busy celebrating their love, in a small village some miles away, a young man grieved. In a cold, dark basement room he paced and he cried.

"They got married!" He breathed in quiet disbelief, raking his fingers through his hair, fisting them and tugging. "How could I let them get married?" He replayed the evening in his mind, seeing each happy face again. Harry Potter… dancing with his pregnant wife, both of them beaming. Ron Weasley staring at his Veela girlfriend as if he was still surprised at his luck. Hermione and Malfoy… starry-eyed at the altar. They were all moving on. They were all happy. They were _murderers_. It was grotesquely unfair; they killed his brother and left his own life in shambles, but they carried on with their plans and their lives, their happy lives, as if nothing had happened. How _dare_ they?!

If only bloody Malfoy hadn't come in! He'd have had her… but there was no way he could have taken both Hermione and Malfoy. He should've just stunned her before she'd noticed him and Apparated straight away. He wasted five minutes letting her jabber at him while he tried to find the courage… damned coward! He could've had her out of there with minutes to spare before anyone missed her. Once he had her, the other three would be easy: they'd come to him… it had to be done like that, he knew he was no match for them. Why had he wasted so much time! He'd had the perfect opportunity! He could've ruined their marriage before it even started, no less than they deserved. He'd been so close to working up the nerve… if Malfoy had waited one more minute! He was such a pathetic coward!

He slammed his fist in to the wall with a shriek of outrage and despair. He heard hurried footsteps from overhead and the door open at the top of the stairs.

"Dennis, dear? What was that?"

"Nothing, Mother… I ….fell." _Please don't come down. Please don't ask what's wrong. Please leave me be._

He closed his eyes in resignation when after a moment's hesitation, she quietly descended the steps. At least she hadn't called him Colin this time… it must be a good day today. She flipped the light on and illuminated his room, now taken over by his obsession… very little wall space was left unobstructed by photos of the four hated heroes. She gave the photos a passing glance.

"What's happened, Dennis? You're so pale…" When he hesitated her expression began to harden. "Tell me." She ordered.

He looked down. "They got married."

"Who?"

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy." He spoke to his shoes.

"_Married_…" She whispered, barely audible. After a moment's silence he dared to look up to her face. The moment his eyes made contact with hers he felt the sting as her palm made contact with his cheek with a resounding crack. "Why did you let this happen?" She screeched. "You were supposed to take care of this! You're just going to let them get away with killing Colin? You're worthless! If it were Colin alive, he'd avenge your death! You're just…" she gestured wild around at his photo and clipping covered walls, "you're just watching them! Just sitting back and observing them go about their lives…" She trailed off and walked to the special section of wall, far away from the four they hated. This wall was covered in photos of Colin. Photos of Colin and photos that he'd taken before he died. "It should've been you…" She whispered and stared at them for a few moments before slowly lowering herself into the chair that faced the collage.

"My Colin…." She said quietly to herself. She raised her voice and addressed him, "You're all I've got left Dennis. Do this for mummy… do this for Colin…" He didn't answer but watched as her face clouded over and her eyes became blank. After several minutes of staring at nothing she blinked and stood, her nightdress trailing the floor. She'd grown so thin since Colin…

She shuffled over to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Good night, Colin my dear."

He watched in silence as she slowly made her way back upstairs and closed the door. He barely made it to the loo before he retched.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's short, the next chapter coming soon! Tell me what you think! Pretty please...


	19. I Shall Be Released

They spent a blissful long weekend hidden away in their suite, only seen by the maid (who was turned away after she dropped off new towels) and the room service staff who delivered their meals.

Coming home, Hermione decided to take another week off from writing; she was still riding the emotional high from the wedding and didn't want to be brought down by such a depressing topic. Instead, she was happily passing the time house shopping on the internet, she'd found three that she was extremely interested in looking at and had pestered Draco into sneaking out of work at lunch to go look with her… he was due in at any moment. All the houses she was interested in were in muggle areas and were currently owned by muggles, that would help them avoid the looky-loos interested in sneaking photos of them… or worse. One of them had especially caught her eye… Harry and Ginny had made an offer on a house right down the block from it and she would be over the moon to have them as their neighbors… their children could play together… she felt a happy little thrill at the thought. She glanced at the clock and realized Draco would be walking through the door at any moment. She quickly printed out the information sheets on each home and tucked them into a folder to take with her. They were meeting the real estate agent at the first house in an hour… they'd have time for a quick lunch if they left in the next five minutes….

The first house was deemed too small; the photos she'd looked at online had been very cleverly taken and gave the illusion of much larger rooms and a more cohesive floor plan. Draco didn't have anything positive to say about the home at all.

They had a different reaction to house number two; it was a lovely home with a small garden and three bedrooms. Hermione and Draco were standing on the porch discussing the house while the slightly rude real east agent was on her mobile in the kitchen.

"The bedrooms are on the small side though, and there's only one bathr-" He stopped in midsentence as a loud piercing sound rent the still air. Without thinking he threw Hermione back through the front door and pulled his wand out, backing his way into the house. "What the bloody hell is that? A fucking Caterwauling Charm? I thought this was a muggle area!" He whispered urgently. He wondered why Hermione wasn't answering, his eyes darted up and down the street and his knuckles whitened on his wand. Just as he was about to grab her and Apparate away because the noise seemed to be getting louder, she burst out laughing. "The fuck is funny about this?" he demanded.

Her reply was broken by laughter and took her several attempts to inform him "It's no charm, it's the muggle police. There must be a police station nearby. That's the siren on their cars."

Just as Draco was about to make a snarky reply the real estate agent decided to join them. "Quite right, it's just around the corner. Which is good for you because your home insurance will be less." She said snootily.

"As will our sleep and sanity. Thank you for your time." And with that the grabbed his wife's arm and pulled her away from the house, her giggles trailing after him.

She was still giggling to herself at the look on his face a little bit ago as they approached the third and final home for the day. She had really high hopes for this one… this was the one that had appealed to her the most of the three that she'd picked to look at today. She had refrained from giving him many details about any of them; she didn't want him to sway his opinion one way or the other.

They turned through the front gate and she couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face, it was the picture perfect English cottage. She cut her eyes at Draco when he didn't say anything. The fact that he hadn't said anything was a good indicator… if he could've found something wrong with its stone walls and tidy front lawn he'd have pointed it out immediately.

They toured the house, which was larger than it looked from the front and were wowed by the wooden beams, large fire places, and lovely back garden. Hermione fell instantly in love with the house and when the agent left them alone in the updated kitchen Draco turned to her with a slight smile.

"Well, I reckon this is it then. It's a great house, small, but I like it. I know you love it, yeah?"

"I really do." She said, internally crossing her fingers.

"Let's go make an offer then."

An hour later they had submitted an offer and went home to await word on whether the sellers accepted it.

"You know Harry and Ginny put in an offer on the one two doors down…" She began when he cut her off.

"You want me to be neighbors with Potter for the rest of my life?" She smiled in what she hoped was an endearing way, he glowered in response. "You've lost the plot."

The next Friday night found them joining Narcissa and Scorpius at the Manor. They were seated in the small family dining room that Narcissa had always secretly preferred to the large formal dining room; now that Lucius wasn't here she used it exclusively. Hermione and Draco both had been amazed and amused to watch Narcissa's demeanor melt bit by bit the longer that she was left to her own devices. Right now they were engaged in a debate about where the newlyweds should go on their honeymoon; Narcissa didn't exactly have the same thing in mind as they did.

"There's that lovely wizard village just north of Milan, the shopping is really superb. That would be a fabulous time. There's a black tie dinner every Friday evening at the Hotel Stregoneria and a cocktail party every other evening."

Draco sighed, "Mother, I hate shopping. And the last thing we want to do is socialize, right love?"

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "We do get a bit tired of the staring and the whispers." They were all momentarily distracted by a wet splat as Scorpius upended his plate, giggling wildly. Narcissa smiled indulgently at him and waved her wand to send the food back to its correct place.

Draco watched the exchange without comment but gave a slight shake of his head. "We're thinking more along the lines of good food… good wine… relaxation, seclusion, that sort of thing."

Narcissa opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by the entrance of a frantic house elf.

"Mistress!" the tiny elf shrieked, her tennis ball eyes panicked. "Master is home! Master is coming up the walk!" She twisted her fingers together.

The three adults stared at each other, puzzled. Narcissa looked back to the elf. "Who is here, Kipsy? Draco is already here…"

"No, missus, not master Draco, master Lucius!"

Their puzzlement turned to disbelief as they heard the front door slam closed.

"Did he fucking break out?" Draco demanded in a loud whisper shooting to his feet, looking between his mother and wife. Neither woman had an answer for him and both were too distracted by the news to even think about reprimanding his language.

"Hermione, take Scorpius back to our place, close the floo and set all the wards. I'll be home in a few minutes. Go. Now." He turned to study his mother, who was somewhat dazedly patting her hair.

Hermione hastily stood and grabbed the squirming toddler, abandoning her food she hurried out of the room for the floo in the kitchen. Draco knew she wanted to protest and was grateful she'd taken Scorp without arguing, he'd thank her later.

He had no idea why, or even if, his father had been released ahead of schedule or what he would do if he walked in to discover his mudblood daughter in law at his table. He opened his mouth to ask his mother what she wanted him to do but Lucius' voice echoed in from the entry way.

"Wife!" Neither answered immediately, too stunned by his sudden arrival to do anything. "Narcissa?" He called again, his voice closer.

"In here," Narcissa finally spoke up, in a voice that did not betray the slightest bit of her alarm. Draco wanted to shake her, to beg her not to retreat back into that cold mask she'd lived in for so long. "In the small dining room."

Lucius Malfoy walked into the room with his sneer fully in place but his eyes focused solely on Narcissa. "Why on earth would you eat in this cupboard? Is something amiss in the proper dining room?" Draco took in his appearance, he was thinner certainly, his hair had been shorn and now hung lankly to his chin, but he stood with rigid pride and only the slight tightening around his eyes and mouth showed any discomfort at the situation.

"Lucius…." His mother breathed and took a hesitant step towards her husband.

Draco interrupted, "You were released?" He tried to keep as neutral a tone as possible, not wanting to open blatant hostilities… he was still very conflicted where his father was concerned. On one hand he knew his father was a vicious bully… on the other he knew the older man truly did love his wife and son, even if they way he expressed his devotion was twisted. Lucius tore his eyes away from Narcissa to study Draco. The older man's face clouded with that Draco knew was disapproval. He smothered a laugh as he realized it was because he hadn't worn full robes to dinner, he was wearing dark muggle trousers and a tailored button down shirt. Leave it to his father to not care about the quality of his clothes, only to notice that they weren't proper wizard attire.

"Yes. I've been released. I shall be on parole for the rest of my life, but I've been let out of that hell hole." He said parole the way he used to say mudblood.

"Why early?" Draco pressed. "You're supposed to be in for four more months."

Lucius glared hard at him and then tossed something on the table. "I have no desire to answer your inane questions. If you must know the answers are there. Occupy yourself; I wish to speak to your mother without interruption." Draco looked down and saw a copy of the Evening Prophet, the headline drew his immediate attention.

**_Special Report: Convicted Death Eater Lucius Malfoy Released from Azkaban!_**

_Self-confessed Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy 46 of Wiltshire, was quietly released from Azkaban prison earlier this evening after serving 32 months of a 36 month sentence. The warden issued a statement saying that Malfoy was released early because of overcrowded conditions within the prison and his exemplary behavior while incarcerated. Malfoy was convicted for thirteen counts of…_

Draco stopped reading, he knew every one of his father's crimes. Overcrowding? Really? He glanced back up at his parents, wondering what to do with himself and if he could possibly just sneak out and go home. They were sitting side by side, his father looking blissful and politely working his way through a plate that had been brought to him by Kipsy. No doubt the fare was infinitely better here. His mother looked as though she'd been hit by a bludger, her eyes a little glassy, skin pale, mouth set in a firm line as if trying to stop her lip from trembling. He wondered if she was glad that Father was home… somehow he thought not. Did she still love him?

"What is that monstrosity?" Lucius asked between bites, gesturing to the other side of Narcissa.

"Scorp's high chair." Draco answered automatically, amused that his father had no idea.

"Scorp? For the love of Merlin, please tell me you do not call my son that heinous name? His name is _Scorpius_." He gave Draco a hard glare and continued. "Do explain the purpose of a high chair."

"He sits in it while he eats. Puts him a table height and makes it easier to feed him," Draco answered again, apparently his mother didn't care to join the conversation. Perhaps she was a tad overwhelmed.

"You mean he dines with you?" Lucius asked, surprised. The look deepened when Narcissa nodded the affirmative. "Why on earth would you want to deal with that? Let the house elves deal with the mess." He dismissed the topic by returning to his meal. Draco felt his anger begin to rise… this was why he'd had such a terrible childhood; his father couldn't even be bothered to let his kid eat in the same room with him. He opened his mouth to make a retort along those lines when Lucius looked up again. "Where is he then, if he dines with you? Were you not in the middle of dinner when I arrived?" His eyes focused on the two unclaimed plates. "Did I interrupt something? You seem to be missing a companion." He glared icily between his wife and son.

"Hermione took him to our flat until we get things more settled here." Draco answered in a flat tone, fully expecting a burst of temper… he was not disappointed.

Lucius slowly lowered his fork to his plate and pushed back his chair. "You mean to tell me that my son is in the care of that _mudblood_?"

"Both of them, really." Draco corrected, secretly thrilled with this new ability to bait his father. "She pretty much takes care of me as well."

"Fetch him home this instant. I have been looking forward to meeting the child for three years, since before his birth. Get him and bring him without the mudblood. I cannot believe you allowed her to dine at our table, Narcissa. Are the shades of Malfoy Manor thus polluted?" He stood and threw his napkin onto the table. "I am going to bathe and replace these hideous robes. I expect both of my sons to be here when I return." He turned and made his way to the door, Draco called after him.

"I'm going, Father, but I won't be back if my wife isn't welcome."

Lucius paused in the doorway and slowly turned back, glaring at his son in obvious fury. "Your _wife_. Yes, I read about that happy occasion in the Prophet. Did I not give clear instructions that you were to host a full ceremony here on the grounds of the manor, and after my release? You married this bint to save our image and nothing more. I will keep up that charade in public, but I will not welcome that filth to my table."

Draco forced his hand away from his wand, practically able to hear Hermione insist _he's not worth it_ in his ear. He pushed his anger down and stared directly into his father's eyes, something it had taken twenty years for him to find the courage to do. "I married Hermione because I love her. It has absolutely nothing to do with you or the name. You accept her or you lose me, up to you." With that he turned his back on his father and went to Narcissa. She still stood quietly, but her pale cheeks had started to flush…. With anger? He heard Lucius storm away and celebrated having the last word for maybe the second time in his life.

"Mum, are you alright? Do you want to stay with us? Or with Andromeda? I can't just leave you and Scorp here with him…." She squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.

"It's alright, dear. Go and get your brother and bring him back, then go home and assure your lovely wife that you're well."

"And what about you?"

"If I can manage the Dark Lord, I think I can manage your father." She replied snappily, her head coming up regally. Where his mum had been a moment before, Lady Malfoy now stood. He wondered if the days of calling her mum instead of mother were over…. Would the happy childhood that Scorp had been enjoying be over now? Would the camaraderie they had slowly built over the last three years be gone so quickly? She thawed slightly when he didn't immediately respond. "Go, my love. Everything will be fine."

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, feeling like he was suddenly ten years old again. "I don't want him to rule our lives anymore… I don't want to have to walk on eggshells for fear of him. I don't want to lose you…" He trailed off, embarrassed by his juvenile behavior.

"You won't, Draco, I promise. Things are going to be much different now. It's going to be an adjustment… having him home again. But we'll manage. If he's absolutely dreadful maybe I'll go to the Hotel Stregoneria and shop and drink wine if you won't, hm?" He smiled because she wanted him to and pulled her into a hug. "Go get your brother and apologize to Hermione that dinner was interrupted. I'll owl you in the morning."

He sighed, allowing her to lead him to the fireplace. "You're sure you want to stay here with him? And Scorpius? You know he's welcome to stay out our place…"

"For the tenth time, yes, Draco. And your flat is a mess right now, what with all the packing and everything. You're in the middle of moving, you don't have his crib set up anymore." She grasped both his hands in hers and looked sternly into his eyes. "Now, for the love of all that's magic, go get your brother and calm your wife before she comes bursting back in here." She rose on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

He rolled his eyes and returned the gesture. "Fine. I'll keep my floo open for you. You come immediately if something happens."

Now she rolled her eyes right back. "I love you, son. Stop worrying, you're acting like Hermione." She laughed at his squeak of outrage and all but threw him into the floo.

* * *

A/N: Once again, I beg forgiveness for taking so long to post. Thanks for sticking with me! So I snuck in a line from Pride and Prejudice, I wonder if anyone besides jaimeweasley saw it... Lucius could be the masculine form of Lady Catherine... haha!

As always, I love to hear what you think!


	20. It's Alright, Ma

Hello my lovelies! Here's a short bonus chapter to make up for how long my update took! We get to hear from Narcissa, it's been since Malfoy: Unknown since we've gotten her POV on anything, I hope you enjoy it. If you've forgotten what Voldemort did to her in M:U, you may want to go back and read those couple chapters, but you can probably figure it out if you don't. It's not very happy, just so you know.

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

* * *

Narcissa slowly made her way back to her bedroom…and her husband. She'd insisted on sticking with Scorpius' nightly routine even though it was Lucius' first night back. She'd let the house elves all but raise Draco and she wasn't going to make that mistake again. Lucius would just have to deal with it.

He looked up as she re-entered the bedroom and muttered something that sounded like "Finally" under his breath. He surprised her by standing up and quickly crossing the room to her. "Cissa…" he whispered as he cupped her face in his large hands. Her stomach tightened, he hadn't looked at her this way in at least a decade. He cleared his throat and appeared to struggle with something. "I missed you." He spoke quietly, searching her eyes. Her lips parted in surprise, what had the three years in prison done to him? Proud and haughty Lucius Malfoy admitting he'd missed her? Had she missed him? She wasn't sure. She'd missed the companionship, certainly. She'd missed having another adult around to save her from Scorpius' constant gibberish… a woman could only take so much before she lost it. But had she missed _him_? He'd put them through so much with his obsession and commitment to following the Dark Lord. But still, a part of her would always love him, the father of her sons. She had been overwhelmed by him when she was younger; he'd been everything a man should be and she had loved him without reservation.

Perhaps he would be different now… now that the Dark Lord had gone. After all, she reminded herself; he had abandoned the fight at the Battle of Hogwarts and done everything in his power to protect her and Draco. She remembered the feeling of being pressed into the corner by his broad back as he fought the Death Eaters who were trying to kill her for her betrayal…. watching him protect her with everything he had. Maybe somewhere underneath his obsession and cold demeanor he still loved her as he had when they were young.

She realized that she hadn't responded to his confession and she trailed her hands up his forearms to grasp his wrists. "And I, you." She whispered. His eyes flickered and he seemed to release a breath. She watched as his eyes glanced back and forth between hers and wondered what he was looking for. Suddenly he crashed his lips to hers and she gasped at the intensity. It had been so long… so long since she'd been held, been kissed. She'd only had that one short interlude with Lucius, when Scorpius was conceived, since the hellish experience of being forced repeatedly into the Dark Lord's bed.

She answered his demanding kiss with equal fervor, fisting her hands in his hair and standing on her tiptoes to increase the contact. She relished in the feel of his strong hands roving over her body, committing the sensation to memory, hoping to drive out the nightmare recollection of the Dark Lord's cold, cruel hands bruising and punishing her. She refused to fall back into that nightmare though; she pulled at her husband's collar, accidentally popping the top button off. This was an actual man, one who wouldn't take what he wanted by force, one who'd lie with her out of desire for her not the insane intention to produce another generation of evil. And not for the sick pleasure of inflicting pain.

She shuddered at the memory that her mind would not let her escape and its contrast to the feel of Lucius' warm body pressed against hers, his heated passion warring with the memory of the cold calculation and selfish cruelty of Voldemort. "Need you…" she whispered into his mouth, nudging him in the direction of the bed. He wrapped both arms around her waist and lifted her so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. He carried her to the bed, his lips never leaving hers. She barely registered that his movements weren't as smooth as they had been and his muscles might be slightly weaker, but they made it nonetheless.

She gratefully accepted his weight as they collapsed onto the bed, her legs still wrapped around him. Merlin she had missed this… she hadn't really realized the extent of it until he was home again. His lips left hers and trailed down her throat as one of his hands slid under her skirt to caress her thigh and cup her bum to pull her snugly up against him. She gasped at the contact and was suddenly out of patience. She grasped her wand and with a silent flick sent their clothing into a heap on the floor. He groaned at the sudden skin on skin contact and leaned up to smirk down at her.

"Impatient are we?" He moved against her and her breath caught in her throat.

"Don't ruin it." She commanded, thinking that one thing she hadn't missed was his arrogance. "Now, please…" She needed him… needed him to put new memories in her mind to replace the horrid ones that lurked there.

"As you wish," his smug smile melted into a gasp of pleasure as he obeyed her request. They held still a moment, savoring that first delicious sensation before he began moving. It was slow at first, to her surprise. Instead of the frantic reunion she'd expected it seemed they were savoring each other, his eyes focused on hers as he moved above her. After a few drawn out moments their passion climbed and the urgency increased until his arms were trembling under his weight and movement and she was trying to find purchase on the silken sheets.

His muscles began to tighten and she watched him through hooded eyes, his movements became more forceful and she felt the stirrings of that wonderful tension low in her belly.

"Cissa…" He breathed, his eyes widening as his climax approached. "Love you," he said as his eyes slipped closed and with a few final thrusts she cried out as he pushed them both over the edge. Her heart constricted and he collapsed on top of her, skin slick with sweat and breath gasping out of his lungs. She _had_ missed this man. She had missed this crazy, manipulative, arrogant, bullying son of a bitch. He might be all of those things, but he did love her. And she had loved him since she was fifteen. She felt tears slip out from under her closed lids, completely overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. Part of her was so happy he was home, so happy she wasn't alone anymore… but part of her knew that she couldn't go back to the being the obedient wife she'd been before, the wife he expected. She tried to smile as he leaned up and dried her cheeks with his thumb. She'd think about this tomorrow.

She opened her eyes to see him studying her. "Why are you crying, love?" He asked gently and her heart clenched again. Tenderness from Lucius? It had been ages since the last time she'd seen it.

"Just overwhelmed," She tried to smile again, but wasn't entirely successful. He didn't comment, just rolled so that he wasn't crushing her and pulled her in to his chest.

"I think we all are a bit." He spoke against her hair. He snuggled in to the pillows and gave her a small squeeze; it was so unlike him that she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her cheeks. His hand began trailing up and down her spine. "Merlin, I've dreamt about this. About you." He sighed, apparently content and she scooted a bit closer, so grateful to not be spending another night alone. "Now if we just get our son away from the mudblood, life will be perfect."

As the satisfied smile moved across his face, hers turned to stone. Hermione may not have been the woman she'd have picked for her oldest son, but she was the one he was meant to be with. Anyone with an ounce of brains could see the positive effect she had on him. And see how over the moon he was for the girl. She felt dread build in her stomach. What was the likelihood that he'd be accepting of their daughter in law and Draco's happiness? She had come love Hermione over the last couple of years and if she were honest, she'd admit that the young witch had come a long way to breaking her out of the cold shell of a woman that she had been. She'd seen how Draco had thrived under Hermione's casual affection and wondered how much damage she had done denying him _motherly_ affection… not that she'd had much choice, Lucius had forbidden her 'coddling the boy'. Well she wasn't about to do that with Scorpius. She liked the person she was now, liked the mother she was now. Yes, she had missed the comfort and companionship of having Lucius at home, but she was not about to give up the freedom she'd discovered.

She felt Lucius relax and his breath even out. When his hand slid off her back and onto the bed she moved slowly backward and studied him in the moonlight. What lengths would he go to to get Hermione out of Draco's life? She knew full well that neither of them would willingly part company with the other. She frowned… what if they had a child? The next generation of Malfoy would be half-blood. Would he accept their grandchildren? A tear slipped down her cheek as she thought of the answer to her question. No. Lucius might have finally realized his loyalty should lay with his family and not a sociopathic mad man, but unfortunately the familial loyalty also included ensuring that the Malfoy line remained pure.

She wiped the tears off of her face. They'd deal with it tomorrow. If he didn't accept the changes she'd made in her life and if he didn't accept their son's choice in a wife… she'd leave. She'd take Scorpius and move to the chateau or purchase a home near Draco. Anything not to be under his thumb again. Narcissa Black Malfoy was a doormat no longer.

She'd take tonight though. She moved back toward Lucius, he started in his sleep and jerked awake, unused to sharing his bed anymore. He relaxed when he realized what was going on. "Cissa." He muttered sleepily and pulled her in close, which was exactly what she wanted. She might be leaving tomorrow- his decision, but she would take tonight. She pressed a kiss to his throat and he hummed in appreciation. "I love you."

She smiled; he'd told her twice in the space of a couple of hours. That hadn't happened in years, he was very sentimental tonight. "I love you, too, Lucy." The smile turned into a grin as he sleepily swatted her bum, she hadn't called him that since she'd been a teenager. It had been her favored way to tease him. She heard a rumbling chuckle in his chest and was glad that he was in a playful mood, they had always been rare. She had a feeling that they would be even more so after she laid down the law tomorrow.

"Not sleeping, love?" He asked, rolling onto his back, pulling her with him. She settled herself so that she was straddling him. Very undignified indeed.

"No. And neither will you for the next little while. I've been very lonely you know…"


	21. Ballad of a Thin Man

**A/N: It's short and it's a cliff hanger but I'm not sorry! I'm not sorry 'cause I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow. (So don't yell at me.) :D**

* * *

The next morning Narcissa woke nearly crushed to death by her husband's body. She huffed out a baffled breath as she tried to figure out how in Merlin's name she'd wound up underneath him. She was lying on her stomach and his front was pressed into her back along her entire left side, leaving only her arm and leg free. They must've been spooning and he just rolled on top of her. Well, it wasn't so bad to be honest. It had been quite a while since she'd woken to find the weight of a man pressing her into the bed. She needed the loo though and began slowly extricating herself, sliding her slightly numb limbs out from under his larger ones. He made a quiet sound in his throat and rolled over, freeing her completely. She took a welcome deep breath and scooted to the edge of the bed where she gently transferred her weight to her now-tingling left foot and looked down at her husband sprawled in their bed. He needed a good meal... several in fact. She'd go down and have one prepared… they'd eat out on the balcony; he also looked like he needed to spend a few weeks in the sun. She stifled a giggle when she unintentionally compared him to a plant left in a dark place or grass that had something left sitting on it for far too long… all pale and stringy. Oh, Merlin, he'd be so angry if she said that out loud to him. She started to the loo and let out a very unladylike groan as her body protested the movement. Wow, she had sore muscles in places that she'd never had before… the insides of her thighs… her bum… even some of her abdominal muscles. A satisfied smirk crept across her face and she didn't bother to stop it: it had been worth the sore muscles. They hadn't had a night like that since before she'd gotten pregnant with Draco. She limped to the loo, wincing slightly. Maybe she'd take a bath later that would ease the aches… she was barely forty, she was too young to feel this way!

She was sitting in her dressing gown sipping tea when he entered the kitchen. She put down _Witch Weekly's _quarterly fashion edition and looked up at him. Surprisingly, he hadn't bothered to get fully dressed yet and was also in a dressing gown. She frowned at his exposed and prominent collar bone.

"Kipsy has some French toast and bacon ready. Are you going to insist that the two of us eat in the formal dining room?" She got up and poured him a cup of tea without thinking, missing his eyes widen and then dart about looking for a house elf.

He sat on the stool next to where she'd been and waited for her to finish with the tea. When she sat back down he pulled her in for a kiss. "Not today I think. If we sit at the large table I can't reach you. Besides, I was thinking that after we eat we can just go back up to bed…" he ran his fingers through her hair and gave her a small smirk.

"That's a little optimistic, don't you think? I'm not sure about you, but I can hardly walk this morning." It was her turn to smirk when he looked shocked at her blatant reference to their activities the night before. A lady didn't say such things. She'd discovered being a lady was quite boring. Running around with her youngest son and joking with her oldest was much more entertaining.

Kipsy served their breakfast and saved him having to make a response and they ate in relative silence. He finished his plate and requested seconds from the slightly flustered house elf. Narcissa was glad to see that it must've been the food in Azkaban and not his appetite that caused the weight loss; he looked like he'd lost two stone.

When Lucius had finally eaten his full he turned towards her and pulled her into his lap. She allowed it and even took a moment to enjoy the embrace. He tipped her chin back and pressed his lips to hers in a slow, thorough kiss. She tried to quell the rising emotion and remind herself that they had some serious things to talk about and it was not going to be good. She gave in for a couple more moments before she pulled away and smoothed his hair where her fingers had mussed it.

"We have some things we need to work out, husband." She gathered her courage.

"Do we, wife? What are they?" He looked politely curious, he had no idea what was coming.

"Draco is happier than I have ever seen him." Lucius raised an eyebrow, she knew he was wondering where she was headed with this. "Hermione stays." She said succinctly. She swallowed her nerves as Lucius slowly removed her from his lap and stood. He paced a couple steps then turned back to face her.

"She stays?" He asked in a quiet, deceptively calm voice.

She nodded. "He's a different person with her, a better person." She continued over him when he opened his mouth to argue. "You know how his teenage years were… the influences that he had. Death Eaters and the most evil wizard to ever walk the earth! At sixteen he was commanded to murder a man to save our lives! He had to murder one of the most powerful wizards the world has ever seen or watch his parents murdered! How is a boy supposed to handle that?" She took a calming breath; trying not to get wound up… emotions were not the way to handle Lucius.

"He's a Malfoy. He'd have handled it just fine."

"No, Lucius. It would've broken him. Hermione saved him."

"I thought the idiot saved _her_? Could've gotten us all killed…" Lucius paced across the kitchen and back, a stormy expression on his face.

"He saved her life, she saved his humanity… she saved his soul." She desperately wanted Lucius to turn his back on the past and outdated traditions, even knowing that he wouldn't.

"Be that as it may, she's not good enough for him."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's a mudblood!"

"Besides her heritage. Name one flaw the girl possesses that has nothing to do with her blood." She placed a hand on her hip and waited patiently for him to answer. It took a moment.

"Her hair is hideous."

"Not anymore."

"She's only after his inheritance."

"She has her own money. The ministry rewarded her for defeating the Dark Lord and she's a published author now. She doesn't need our money." She shot him down again.

"She's… she's a bossy little swot! She talked back to me when she was twelve!"

"I imagine you deserved it. Yes, she was a bossy little thing but Draco has mellowed her some. He teases her until she gets off her high horse… it's quite adorable really. If you watched them together you'd see immediately that they bring out the best in each other." She was wasting her breath and she knew it. He was already shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter. I will not allow him to stay with her. I will not allow them to bring a half-blood child into this family. It's utterly unacceptable." He said with a sense of finality and a glare that said he was finished discussing it. He was in for a rude awakening because that look wouldn't quiet her anymore.

"Lucius." He turned back to look at her. "If you do something to harm their marriage, I'm leaving." She said it quietly, and it was all the more impactful for it.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Now she took a menacing step toward him. "She is the only person who's loved him the way he deserves. You and I both failed him. I will not allow you to ruin this for him. If you truly care for your son, you will accept Hermione into this family. You don't have to like her, just tolerate her."

"You expect me to overlook the fact that she comes from muggles." He stated flatly.

She sighed and felt sadness begin to creep over her. "No. I don't expect you will. I expect that you'll begin your manipulations immediately in an attempt to pry her out of his life and our family." She looked at him a moment, he made no reaction. "Do you deny it?

"The house of Malfoy must remain pure." He said in perfect imitation of his unlamented father. Her shoulders drooped.

"Let me ask you something. How many truly pureblooded families are left in Europe?" He hesitated so she answered herself. "Very few. If you succeed in separating Draco and Hermione and manage to pair him with a pureblood witch, how many purebloods will there be in their child's generation? Even fewer. Even if Malfoy remains pure for one or even two more generations, that'll be the end of it. There are so few left, Lucius." She prayed that logic would work when emotion didn't. "_No_ family will be truly pureblood in fifty years. Let's call it for what it is and let the best option for a non-pureblood be the mother of the future Malfoys. Hermione is the smartest, most powerfully magical witch of her generation. There is not better mate for Draco. All the pureblood daughters his age are idiots and any offspring they'd produce would, more than likely, be a few feathers short of a hippogriff. Honestly, Lucius. Do you not see this?"

"That girl and blasted Potter ruined everything we ever stood for. She is responsible for our downfall." He ground out, glaring down at her.

"That girl and Mr. Potter saved us from the clutches of a mad man. Your greed was our downfall." She retorted, poking him in the chest for added emphasis, surprised at her own audacity.

He blinked, his lips pulling back into sneer. "This is your stance then? You'll let that little hussy come between us?"

She shook her head, frustrated. "I'll not let you come between my son and his happiness. It's your greed coming between us. Do you love your son enough, do you love me enough, to set aside the prejudice and accept this girl into the family? Or should I make arrangements to take Scorpius and move into the chateau?"

He hesitated and she felt hope stir in her breast. "You ask me to choose between generations of honor and the love of my wife?"

"No. I'll love you, but I'll not have a life with you. Draco's happiness is more important to me than politics and posturing. I can't condone it."

"I see. And when do you plan on leaving?" Her heart sank.

"The moment you tell me that you choose archaic tradition over the love of your wife and sons." This gave him pause and he tilted his head to study her. For a moment, she saw sadness and regret in his eyes, but it was gone before she could examine it.

"What if I don't want to answer that right now?"

"Well…" This surprised her as she had expected him to immediately send her on her way. "Well I suppose we try to get used to each other again and I'll hope that you love us enough to not tear the family apart."

They stared at each other across the kitchen for several moments, each waiting, hoping that the other would relax their position. When neither yielded he sighed and crossed the kitchen to her.

"Come, Narcissa. I've been… _away_… for three years. Can we just… not do this today?" He asked, reaching for both her hands.

She swallowed against the ache in her throat and nodded, feeling a small measure of relief that things weren't resolved yet. She knew how it would end; she wasn't so naïve as to assume that he'd bow to what he probably saw as a whim. When it came down to it she didn't want to walk away from him. But she would do it, for her sons. But for now she would allow the inevitable to be delayed just a bit.

She cleared her throat daintily, willing the ache not to evolve to tears. "Let's get dressed and spend the day out in the garden, shall we?" She imagined that if his pride would let him, he'd admit that feeling the wind and seeing the sky after spending so many months incarcerated was something he desperately wanted.

He squeezed her hands. "That sounds lovely."

"I'll have the elves pack us a basket. Would you like to select a wine?" He nodded and pulled her in for another kiss. It was like they were newlyweds again with all this affection. "I'm going to floo Draco and ask him to keep Scorpius until later in the afternoon. Go on out without me, I'll find you."

* * *

Hermione and Draco stayed away from the Manor for the next two weeks, Narcissa having warned them that Lucius was undecided as to how he wanted to move forward. Draco had had a couple of terse run-ins with his father during pick-ups or drop-offs with Scorpius, but it was more frosty silence than arguments. Draco had no desire to talk about his feelings regarding his father and she was content to leave him alone about it. When he sorted it out for himself he'd let her know.

At the moment she was packing up a box of off-season clothing, slowly getting ready to move into their new house. They weren't moving for a couple more weeks, but she decided to do it a bit at a time instead of all at once. Plus with all the slouching over the computer she'd been doing while writing the book, the slightly physical task made her feel less lazy. Draco always rolled his eyes when she did things by hand… one would think he would be used to it by now.

She hummed to herself as she folded and packed, she was in a good mood today; apart from the drama with Lucius life was really excellent at the moment. They were exciting about moving to a new home and building their life there and they'd heard or received nothing from The Arsehole since before the wedding and while she was quite glad about that she couldn't help but wonder why. She had thought for certain that when they'd published the short story about the wedding last week he'd respond quickly. But there hadn't been anything so far. Actually the response had been overwhelmingly positive. They had allowed a young reporter, much to Rita's dismay, to write and publish the article and Hermione was so happy with the draft that she'd approved it to go to print without any alterations. She'd even framed a copy and she was planning on putting it on the mantle when they moved into the new house. Dennis' photos had been a brilliant addition to the article and every piece of post they received commented on them. He'd selected one of them facing the congregation from the altar, huge beaming smiles on their faces and then another that she hadn't known he'd taken. She and Draco were dancing and Dennis had apparently caught him in a moment of weakness because love was etched on every inch of his face. Draco had not been super thrilled to see it published as he'd have preferred to keep it private, muttering "look like a sodding Gryffindor…" to himself as he read the caption.

She closed the now full box of clothes and moved to stack it in the corner out of the way. It was heavier than she expected and she winced slightly as she held the box to her chest to top her hands from slipping under the weight, she'd moved it too quickly and had accidentally crushed her own breasts. That was painful; she rolled her eyes at her own clumsiness. She set the box down and held her forearm to the protesting area. Merlin, it wasn't like she'd bashed herself, why was it so tender? Must be getting close to that time of the month…

She cast the thought aside and checked her watch… she had an hour until she had to start cooking dinner for Harry and Ginny to come over. What to do? She didn't really feel like packing anymore… if she worked on the book she'd lose track of time… instead of deciding on something productive she grabbed her keys and handbag and headed out the door. She'd just pop down to the newsstand on the corner and find a magazine or something to read.

In a few short minutes she was perusing the travel magazines looking for honeymoon inspiration, between purchasing the new house and Lucius being released they still hadn't planned their trip. She glanced up, her concentration broken when she heard her name, "Ms. Granger," spoken softly just behind her. She turned and felt her breath catch as she looked up into the cold face of the man who might actually be the bane of her existence, Lucius Malfoy.


	22. LIke a Rolling Stone

A/N: Here's the next chapter as promised, actually more quickly than promised 'cause I got excited. This one's dedicated to the one person who's reviewed every single chapter, helped me flesh out characters and plot lines (whether she realized that or not), kept me from painting myself into corners, and bribed me with penguin-delivered ice cream. Henben: this one's for you. You asked for this chapter ages ago... hope you like it! :D

* * *

She glanced up, her concentration broken when she heard her name, "Ms. Granger," spoken softly just behind her. She turned and felt her breath catch as she looked up into the cold face of the man who might actually be the bane of her existence, Lucius Malfoy.

She schooled her own into a look of cool disdain "It's Malfoy, actually." She sniffed and felt no small sense of victory when his pale skin flushed with indignation. She studied him while she waited for his retort, wondering what he was doing on the street in muggle London and how he'd found her… at least he had the sense to not wear his robes. She noted with some regret that he'd lost a fair bit of his looks during his nearly three years in Azkaban. His pale skin tone had turned to pallor and his high cheekbones, which had always added to his appeal, now stood out sharply from his hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes. Lucius Malfoy wasn't handsome anymore. Shame, that.

She steeled herself as he took a menacing step to close the distance between them. She refused to feel or show any fear… they both knew that he'd be sent right back to Azkaban if he put one toe out of line so any visible fear would only embarrass her and give him satisfaction. He stared down his nose at her and his lips pulled back into an unattractive sneer when she stared defiantly back.

"You silly little chit. How dare you take the Malfoy name?"

"Because I married your son," she answered glibly, enjoying the fact that she could bait him and he could do nothing about it.

He leaned down until he was offensively close, "Your days as a Malfoy will be few, Mudblood. At first I thought that the social advantages of this unholy, albeit temporary, union would be worth the… shame, but I've changed my mind. My son and wife are too soft to go along with my plan, to see you for what you really are. But you've not fooled me. You'll be out of this family within a fortnight." His sneer evolved into a malevolent smirk.

"I doubt your son or wife will agree to that, and there was never a 'plan', but think what you will." She felt a chill at his words, wondering just how far he'd be willing to go to remove her from the family. She hid her nerves by turning back to the rack and picking up the periodical that had caught her eye before he'd spoken to her. She paid the man and made to walk away but barely made the curb before Lucius grabbed her upper arm.

"Now is your chance, Ms. Granger." He spoke in a quiet yet commanding tone.

"Malfoy," she responded icily. "I told you; it's Malfoy." His jaw muscles clenching was the only acknowledgement of her statement.

"This is your only chance. You have two weeks to convince my son to leave you. Do what you must, but do not further humiliate the Malfoy name by leaving him. If you mention this delightful little chat to my son or wife, you will regret it. Two weeks." He let the implied threat hang, gave her one last glare, and spun away without a backward glance. She wondered if he missed his cloak as the lack of it lessened the impact of his whirl. To Hermione's horror, not being familiar with muggle areas he stepped immediately off the curb without pausing to look for traffic. She heard and saw the threat at the same moment as he did, both freezing in dismay. Time seemed to slow to a near stop as she judged the distance.

"Lucius!" She shouted in warning, sending a wordless prayer to any god who was listening that he'd Disapparate or leap out of the way. But there was no time. No time for her to grab her wand to slow the bus or blast him out of the way, no time for him to do anything but draw a surprised breath. She heard the groan of protesting brakes and saw him begin reach toward the head of his walking stick where she knew his wand was stowed; her hands flew to her mouth, her magazine fluttering forgotten to the wet pavement. His eyes flicked to hers and his face betrayed shock and fear. The gaze lasted only a split second; she screamed into the hand covering her mouth and desperately reached the other toward him as if she could pull him to safety from ten feet away. She slammed her eyes closed and her stomach revolted as heard the horrific thud of the impact.

Screams echoed up and down the sidewalk, from the people queuing at the coffee shop, and from the tourists on the upper deck of the bus. She forced her eyes open as the large vehicle shuddered to a stop ten yards past her.

"Lucius!" She screamed again. Knowing it was futile, knowing what she would find and knowing she didn't want see, she ran to the front of the bus. Lucius' bloody, crumpled body lay in the pavement in front of the bus. Her stomach completed its revolt at the gruesome sight and she spun away to splatter the sidewalk with sick. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve and blinking tears out of her eyes she tried to calm herself down. Oh, Merlin, her father in law had just been killed before her very eyes. She belatedly noticed the crowd of muggles that were gathering around the scene. The driver of the bus was on his radio reporting the accident to his dispatcher and several of the bystanders were on their mobiles, ringing the police.

She ordered herself to calm down and do what needed to be done. Bloody hell this was an unholy mess. She quickly knelt down beside him and felt for a pulse on his throat… Merlin she couldn't feel anything besides her hands shaking and her own heart pounding. She took a calming breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on her fingertips… nothing. She repositioned them… still nothing. She reached up and peeled back an eyelid… no reaction. He was couldn't let the police take the body… he had a wand on him at minimum and who knew what else. She sat up gazing around at the curious and shocked faces, some calling to her. She ignore them and reached up her sleeve and touched her wand surreptitiously. Who was she supposed to call? She couldn't send for Draco, animosity or not no child should see their father bruised and broken like this…. limbs splayed in unnatural positions, face nearly unrecognizable. Harry would just have to call someone else… she'd just go straight to the top.

_Kings,_

_Need help. Lucius Malfoy hit and killed by a bus on muggle street, Northeast corner of Hyde Park. Need immediate support… Obliviators, Aurors… everyone. Muggle police are already on the way._

_Hermione_

* * *

Two hours she walked into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, for some reason this was always the place they gathered when the shit hit the fan.

"Hermione!" Harry leapt up from his seat at the table between Ron and Ginny and crossed the room to envelope her in a tight hug. Word had spread quickly about Lucius' demise. "Are you alright?"

She tried to think of something to say, but all she could do was hide her face against his throat. He seemed to understand and patted her back awkwardly. After a couple moments of silence she pulled away and let him lead her to a chair and Ron pressed a glass of Firewhiskey into her hand and she sipped it gratefully. The three looked at her, obviously unsure of what to say.

Ginny sat next to her and took her free hand. "Where's Draco? Is he alright?"

"He's at the manor. He wanted to tell his mum by himself." She swiped roughly at a rogue tear. "Really I think he just needed to be by himself for a little while…. have a minute to take it in. It's not like they had a good relationship…. I'm not sure how he's feeling. I told him I didn't want to go home by myself, so I'd be here."

Everyone was quiet for a few more minutes. Hermione drained her glass and Ron gave the only comfort that he knew and refilled it for her.

After a few minutes of somber silence, only broken by the crackle of the fire in the grate Ron cleared his throat.

"So… Lucius Malfoy… killed by a muggle tourist bus. A double decker bus." He smothered a snort. "Does that not strike anyone else as effing hilarious? I mean… the elitist of the purebloods, killed by the people he tried to murder? Not even killed on purpose, it's not like they assassinated him- they killed him _on accident_!" This time he didn't even attempt to stifle his laughter and gave himself fully to his mirth. Hermione started to glare at him, but the irony wasn't lost on her either and she had no love for the man. He had tried to kill them on a number of occasions, not even mentioning their conversation before he'd stepped out into the street. When they determined that she wasn't about to hex Ron, Harry and Ginny stopped trying quite so hard to hide their own laughter.

"Serves him right… giving an eleven year old girl a diary that harbored a piece of Voldemort's soul!" Ginny said, nodding with satisfaction. She may have warmed up to Draco and Narcissa, but the sentiments did not extend to Lucius.

"Oh, Merlin. The proudest bastard I've ever met… smashed flat by a muggle bus." Harry contributed, running his hand across his face, the urge to laugh conflicting with the inappropriateness of laughing at the death of a friend's father.

"There is a certain poetic justice there… and if I hadn't married Draco I wouldn't feel the slightest bit of remorse. And if I hadn't witnessed it…." She trailed off. That comment sobered them and the laughter dried on their lips.

After an awkward pause Ginny stood and pulled Hermione up with her. "Come on, love. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?" It was only then that Hermione realized she was covered in blood. The bottom half of her jeans were a gruesome crimson where she'd knelt beside his body... her hands where she'd tried to feel for his pulse, a couple random places where she'd accidently touched her clothes and hair with her bloody hands. She stared at herself in horror for a moment before a ridiculous urge to laugh came over her. This must be another side of being in shock.

She blinked again and the laugh bubbled up her throat, causing the other three to shoot surprised glances at each other and then stare hard at her. She looked up and shrugged, "It looks just like mine after all."

After Ginny assisted her in showering and finding clean clothes, Harry asked Kreacher to prepare them dinner and they talked quietly while they ate. Hermione ate on autopilot, not listening in the slightest to the chatter of the other three. It was as if the image of Lucius' lying broken on the pavement was burned into her retinas. It was all she could see. And the morbid echo of the thud of impact played through her mind over and over again. After two hours she couldn't stand it anymore and bid the other three a quiet good night and left through the floo. She hoped that Draco would be home, she was worried about him.

Climbing out of their fireplace she immediately looked for signs that Draco had been home. She saw his briefcase tossed carelessly onto the sofa and his shoes in the middle of the floor. She took that as a sign of his emotional state; he was almost always very tidy.

Eventually she found him on the balcony leaning with his elbows on the rail and a half-empty bottle of Ogden's finest on the floor nearby. There wasn't really anything to say so she just wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back. He patted her hands in acknowledgement, but said nothing for a time.

Eventually he spoke up, "you were there?"

"Yeah. It happened so fast…" She pulled away when he straightened and stepped away from the railing.

"You were at the newsstand on the corner?" He questioned and she nodded. "I assume he came to speak to you then, what other reason would he have for being on a street corner in muggle London?" She nodded again, not wanting to tell him what his father had said to her. "Tell me what he said." His face was completely closed off, his Malfoy mask at one hundred percent.

"I don't think now is the-" she started only to be cut off.

"Tell me."

She sighed, knowing he would not be satisfied until she told him, even though they both knew it would hurt him. "He wanted me to make you leave…. To do something to make you file for divorce."

"Did he hurt you?" He asked, with no inflection.

"Not in the slightest." He studied her, looking for signs that she was covering for his father. "I promise you, Draco." He finally nodded and opened his arms to her. "Are you alright?"

"Fuck if I know." He said with a sour laugh.

"Your mum?" She asked, leading him to one a chair.

He shrugged. "In shock, I suppose."

They sat in silence for a time. She felt his head nod and figured that the fire whiskey had finally caught up with him. "Come on, love. Up you get." She helped him into bed and slid under the covers behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. "Love you."

"You too."

* * *

They held Lucius' funeral that weekend in the ancient cemetery at the manor. A black marble headstone erected among those of his forefathers bearing the family crest and his name and dates of birth and death. There were very few people in attendance and those who were there had only come to support Draco or Narcissa. It seemed that if it weren't for the two of them Lucius' death would've gone entirely unmourned. She knew that Draco wasn't even sure if he'd miss the man anyways and he stood with his hands shoved in his pockets or an arm around her or his mum and didn't speak a word. His face set in the stony Malfoy mask. Narcissa was a different story than Draco... she also wore the mask, but her fingers were twined tightly in her lap and her lips were pressed into a thin line. Hermione had spoken only briefly to her about the loss of her husband and got the impression that the older witch was as confused about Lucius as their oldest son was. Hermione thought whatever love she'd had for Lucius had been dampened by what he'd put them through during Voldemort's reign. She wondered what Narcissa would do now... would she feel a sense of freedom? Or would she be stuck as a Death Eater's widow forever?

Hermione glanced over at Harry and Ron, both looking suitably somber. Ginny had stayed at the Burrow with Scorpius and Teddy as they were both too young to realize what was going on... even if it was Scorpius' dad. He'd only known the man for two weeks and hadn't had much interaction with him as it was. She was grateful that her boys had come, especially Harry. Even if she didn't really understand their twisted friendship she was happy that Draco had a guy he could... well, not talk to because let's face it, Draco wasn't about to have a heart to heart with anyone, much less Harry Potter... but they could go get sloppy drunk and beat each other up or something. They'd both feel better after that. Maybe she'd suggest they go get a drink this evening... on second thought that was a _terrible_ idea. The last time they'd gone out drinking Draco had come home with a massive tattoo. Maybe she'd just let them get drunk at home. That'd be easier. Even if the tattoo _was_ sexy, she didn't want him to make another crazy decision like that.

It was a short ceremony as there wasn't really much good to say about the man. Narcissa gracefully invited everyone into the manor for refreshments and after an awkward hour of pretending to mourn most people made good their escape.

Draco, Hermione, and Harry were left standing in the kitchen with Narcissa who finally allowed herself to sag against the counter, clearly exhausted.

"Well... that's over. I believe I'm going to take a bottle of wine and this plate of chocolate upstairs and drink until I fall asleep." She smiled wryly at them. "You're sure Ginny doesn't mind keeping Scorp tonight?"

"Not at all, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry assured her.

"You're a dear. I'll be around by ten to get him." She patted him on the cheek and moved on to Draco. "Come, Draco. Give your mum a hug." He rolled his eyes but obeyed and let her kiss his cheek. She seemed to get a little teary, but cleared her throat and looked at Hermione. "Hermione, dear... do try to keep him from going anything stupid this time? I'd rather he not have another tattoo..." She smirked up at Draco who tried to look affronted while Harry and Hermione laughed. She then swept out of the room, head held high carrying her wine and chocolate like they were gifts for kings.

"Well mate," Harry clapped him on the shoulder. "Shall we go get pissed?"

"Bet your arse, Potter." Hermione rolled her eyes as they immediately started their incessant bickering.

"You're not going to go all patsy on me and cry are you? Cause I'll have to hit you for that." Harry said, warningly.

"Fuck you, Potter. I'm not a patsy and I'm not your mate."

"What are you then?"

"I'm your worst fuckin' nightmare, that's what." Hermione tried her best to ignore their idiocy as she ushered them, pushing and shoving, into the floo and shouted her own address. These two were going to need a chaperone for sure.

* * *

A/N: I'm pretty sure y'all are going to push the story over 200 reviews tonight and I am super excited about that. I'm addicted to reviews. Tell me what you think!


	23. Moonshiner

A/N: Y'all sent so many requests to see Harry and Draco get drunk again that I could not deny you. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Hermione let her head drop heavily to the table, more than ready for her husband and best friend to just pass out. They were really driving her mad. A few moments ago she'd walked into the room and into a detailed conversation about Ginny's pregnancy…

"… and they're bloody HUGE and beautiful and they call to me…. but I'm not allowed to touch them." Harry lamented in a tone of voice that would've been suited to receiving a sentence of solitary confinement with a diet of bread and water.

Draco laughed, "What? Why the hell not?"

"She says they hurt," he pouted and tipped back his beer.

"Really? Blimey." Draco pondered for a moment, than smirked. "Poor Potty, cut off 'cause he got his wife up the duff."

"Ha! Shows what you know, she's all over me. Bit too much, actually. Only it's weird now she's getting bigger…."

"Potter, I don't think I want to hear-"

"I mean, that's my kid in there! And her belly's all in the way… I feel like I'm either going to crush the kid or poke it in the eye with-"

"For fuck's sake!" Draco pushed himself off the couch and glared at Harry. "What in the holy hell makes you think I want to hear about this?! Ugh. I'm never going to be able to look at She Weasel the same way again." He shuddered; Hermione smothered a laugh in her hand wondering how Ginny would react to knowing the boys had this conversation. "You either stop talking about that or go home. Bloody hell."

"Fine. I won't listen to you gripe when Hermione's knocked up then. You'll be on you own."

"Ha! Like I'd ask advice from you, tosspot. You can't even hold a job!" Draco smirked.

"It was an internship and you know it." Harry protested, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, one that ended a month ago. Got any plans or are you just going to lie around getting fat off your wife's cooking? Lazy tosser…" He gave Harry's shoulder a good-natured shove as the latter immediately ran a hand down his flat stomach as if checking to see if a gut had suddenly appeared there.

"Psh, I vanquished a dark lord: I'm taking a well-earned break." He waved Draco off and Hermione grinned at his off-the-cuff response, glad that he was finally recognizing the sacrifices he had made. "Maybe I WILL just stay home… I'll stay home and make little ginger babies with my wife, get fat off her cooking, and then come over here and bug the shit out of you. Sounds bloody brilliant to me."

That earned a shocked laugh from Draco and a giggle from Hermione who would love nothing less than to see Harry take it easy for a few years and just enjoy life.

"Speaking of eating…you know what I need?" Harry asked before either of them could comment, grinning at Hermione in a way that he apparently hoped was cute.

"A swift kick in the pants?" Draco offered with a smirk.

"No, fucktard, snacks. I need some snacks. I like snacks while I drink. 'Mione, love… can you feed me?"

Draco immediately gave his approval of the plan and Hermione received a hopeful smile from him as well. She opened the fridge browse the options: it looked grim.

"Sandwiches?" She offered.

"No." They said simultaneously.

"Fruit?"

"No!"

"Erm… cheese?"

"Fuck cheese. I need something fried." Harry said, getting up to drop a beer bottle into the bin, even drunk Ginny had him well trained; he never left empties lying around.

"Ya know, Potter, that's the only good idea you've ever had. Let's go get some fish and chips…"

"I will never understand why alcohol makes the two of you curse like sailors… but alright. Let's go."

A few minutes later, already feeling a headache brewing, Hermione found herself shepherding her husband and best friend into the elevator to head a couple blocks down to their favorite pub. She was determined to find humor in their antics instead of frustration, but it was proving difficult especially as Draco tripped over a curb and nearly went sprawling.

"Careful, Grace!" Harry yelled, laughing at the blond man.

"Fuck off Potter; I'm like a world-class gymnast. Malfoys are always graceful."

"A gymnast? Do you even know what that is? I bet you can't even to a cartwheel." Hermione groaned aloud as Harry issued the challenge; this was going to end in disaster.

"A cartwheel?" Draco asked. "You just made that up."

"See?" Harry turned to Hermione, as if he'd just won a debate. "He doesn't even know what it is."

"You do it then!" Draco challenged.

"Even if I show you, I bet you can't even do it." Harry loved baiting Draco.

"Oh no, no one's doing a cartwheel. C'mon, only one more block." She gave them both a quick shove towards the pub, hoping to get some food into them quickly.

"No, no, I can do it." Harry protested, and before she could stop him he pushed Draco aside and executed a complete, albeit shaky cartwheel.

"That's it? You just… flip over like that? Well hell, I can do that." And before she could Stun or Body Bind him, he attempted his first ever cartwheel… and tipped over backwards into a trash bin and sent it and its rubbish careening noisily into the street. Between Harry's laughter, Draco's screams, and the metal bin crashing into the pavement, they attracted quite a bit of attention.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She yelled at both of them and quickly stopped the rolling bin and righted it on the curb.

Draco popped back up, rubbing his back. "I'm good! Totally good."

Five minutes later they had- finally- made it to a booth in the pub. It was a muggle pub and they were regulars so when the waitress came over with their customary appetizer she was already laughing.

"Had a head start already, boys?" She patted Hermione on the hand in a commiserating way. "Usual Harp for you, dear?" Hermione nodded and she turned to the boys. "What'll it be today, Harry?"

"A Harp for Hermione? We're going Irish tonight? We'll both have a Guinness then, please."

"And some fish and chips, love?" Draco added, smiling sweetly at the waitress as he always did.

"'Course, Drake. For you, too, Harry?" They'd never corrected her initial mis-hearing of Draco's name; it wasn't a common name in the muggle world after all.

Thirty minutes later Hermione was happy that they had both eaten a large basket of fish and chips- though they had both downed two additional beers- and she was finishing her single beer and debating how best to convince them to wrap it up, she was really exhausted despite laughing at them for the last little while. She was worried about Draco coping with his father's death, but it appeared he was going to put it off for a while. Not that she could blame him.

Suddenly Draco's attention was caught over by the bar and he was craning his neck to see around Harry. "Look at the bloke's tattoos! That's wicked!" Hermione turned to see a man with intricate tattoos running up both arms from his wrists to where they disappeared under his shirt sleeves. "Mine looks boring compared to that!" He gestured to his exposed forearm tattoo. Hermione had been secretly pleased when he'd taken to wearing his sleeves rolled up. He had overcome the shame of his Dark Mark and was now proudly showing off his thunderbird tattoo, which was something that the wizarding world hadn't really seen. She wondered if he didn't like shocking their sensibilities with it. "Hey… I want to do that!" He looked eagerly at Hermione who laughed at his excited expression.

"Aaaaand it's time to go."

Once back in the Malfoy loft Hermione left them in the living room to use the loo, hoping that they'd be passed out on the couch when she returned. Instead, she found Harry stripping his shirt off and throwing it on the floor.

"Harry- wha…?

"Mrpgh… it's hot!" He said through his shirt, which he'd gotten hung around his neck by neglecting to undo any buttons. She laughed as he struggled with the shirt, not feeling sorry for him at all. She walked over to Draco, who appeared to be asleep on the sofa, and covered him in a light blanket. When she turned back Harry had successfully shed his shirt, undershirt, and was working on his blue jeans.

"C'mon, don't be that guy."

"What guy?"

"The guy who gets drunk and takes his clothes off…"

"But it's so hot in here…" he protested weakly.

"Wouldn't you rather go home? Ginny's expecting you…" She couldn't wait to see Ginny's face when she delivered a mostly naked Harry Potter to her door.

"Oh yeah…" He looked around at his scattered clothing and began to gather it up.

They meandered down the hall and around the corner to the Potter loft and Hermione tapped her wand on the door, opening the locks. Ginny sat up quickly from where she'd fallen asleep on the sofa and her jaw dropped.

"No tattoos this time, yeah?"

"We're ink free this time. Good luck." Hermione laughed and turned this charge over to Ginny and went back to her own.

The following Monday Hermione had been immersed in going over the last few chapters she'd written this morning and had taken a break for lunch. She stared into the fridge waiting for something to strike her. There was some leftover shepherd's pie… that would do. She pulled it out, spooned a helping onto a plate, and cast a warming charm on it. As soon as it warmed up and the aroma began wafting through the room she wrinkled her nose. Ugh, the smell of the onions was absolutely overwhelming. Hadn't this been pretty good when they'd had it the other day? She was certain it had been fine… she picked up a forkful and brought it up to sniff it more closely. Ugh, no. She couldn't eat this. She binned it and settled for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That would always taste good.

After lunch she settled back at her computer to wrap up the proofreading. She'd only been working a couple minutes when a reminder popped up on her screen. She jumped as the chime rang out in the silence and read the pop up with today's date on the screen:

Pick up conception prevention potion from Apothecary.

It was always sort of amusing the ways that the magic and muggle world mixed for her. She didn't feel like going out though… she'd ask Draco to pick it up for her. She slapped her palm to her forehead again in regret that they hadn't ever replaced Nyx, their poor owl that the Arsehole had killed. Poor bird.

She couldn't floo directly to his office… she'd just send a Patronus. She would be relieved when he finally caved and was willing to get a mobile phone. Texting would be so much easier. Maybe she would drag Gin out later in the week and they'd get some. If Harry started using one Draco would be jealous that Harry had a toy that he didn't... grinning at the thought she shot of a quick Patronus to her silly husband.

Draco sighed as he strode down the sidewalk to the apothecary, not excited about the fact that his wife was making him pick up her potion. This was not a job for a man he thought stubbornly. He walked into the shop and nodded to the man behind the counter.

"Hello, I'm picking up for Hermione Malfoy? Well, you might still have her as Granger, I'm not sure if she's been in since we got married…"

"Ah yes, we've still got her as Granger. Let me give you the form for her to fill in to change it. She can just drop it by the next time she's in the Alley. Here you go… and let me see what we've got for her." Draco accepted the form as the man turned and rifled through some baskets at a long counter. "Did she say what you were picking up?" The man called to him.

"Birth control potion." He answered, forbidding himself to feel embarrassed about it; it was all a part of being an adult even if he was slightly uncomfortable with it.

"Hm…" The man left the bins and turned to a large file cabinet. Tapping his wand on it, Hermione's file popped out and opened automatically to the pages he wanted. He read quietly for a moment before he turned back.

"I'm afraid it'll be about an hour or so before it's ready, she never picked up her last batch so we assumed she'd gone off the potion and didn't prepare it this time. Honestly I was hoping she'd be in to get a prenatal potion soon." The man smiled good naturedly.

"Hang on … she didn't pick it up last time? When was that?" He felt a hot sweat break out on his skin.

"She gets a single dose quarterly… every three months like clockwork. She's very precise, you know how she is."

"Well… could she have gotten it elsewhere?"

"It's not impossible of course, but we're really the only apothecary chain in England… and she's had the standing order for…" He referenced the file again, "four and a half years."

Draco swiped a sweaty palm on his pant leg. "Could she have just brewed it herself then?" He wracked his brain, trying to remember if she'd mentioned it.

"No. Several ingredients are controlled so that youngsters don't try to brew it without their parents' consent and because it can go pretty wrong if brewed incorrectly."

Draco stared at the man, who was still smiling in a grandfatherly way. There was no way she'd have forgotten it… there had to be some other way. He stared at the man, waiting for some reasonable explanation as to why Hermione wouldn't pick up her potion…

After a moment the man spoke up, "Would you like to wait the hour? Or I could send it over with an owl if you sign for it now." He paused for a second. "Or perhaps I should send you home with a prenatal potion instead?"

* * *

A/N: Several of y'all picked up a clue I left in the last chapter about what condition Hermione may or may not be in... I was wondering if you would!

Also, I'm glad that y'all (nearly all of you) liked Lucius' demise. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out... a quick, shocking, and frankly humiliating death instead of some kind of battle or dramatic duel. I giggled every time someone said "I did not see that coming!" Because every time I thought "Neither did Lucius!"

Let me know what you think of the chapter! :)


	24. Little Lottie

Draco left the Apothecary empty handed. He had no fucking clue what to do. No. Fucking. Clue. He got home as fast as he could with a litany of she's not pregnant she's not pregnant racing through his brain. He couldn't stop to think about how he'd feel if even she was pregnant: he'd been too blindsided by the sudden possibility. He stormed into the apartment, cursing as the door bounced off a stack of boxes and caught him in the shoulder.

"Hermione!" He all but bellowed the moment he was inside. He heard her desk chair creak as she got up and then her footsteps as she dashed down the hall.

"What's wrong?" She asked, "You look –"

"Did you get your potion in May?" He interrupted.

"Of course. I get it every three months."

"From the same Apothecary?"

"Yes… Did they give you some kind of trouble about picking it up for me?"

Draco took a deep breath and tried to find his calm and cool side. "They said you didn't pick it up last time."

"Well that's mad. Of course I… did… Did I…?" His stomach dropped as her eyes glazed over to her deep in thought expression. He'd give her thirty seconds before he shook her out of it.

"We've been married for…" her lips moved as she counted to herself. "Oh Merlin." They stared frozen at each other as they both realized that in the nearly five weeks they'd been married she hadn't had her period. He'd have noticed his advances being rebuffed because of that time of the month… it hadn't happened.

Draco blinked in surprise as she suddenly grabbed her breasts with both hands, her eyes going even wider. He choked back a snicker when she squeezed them a few times. "Um… it's not that I don't want to see you touch yourself… but what are you doing?"

"My breasts have been tender…" She replied a bit dazedly. "I noticed it the other day."

Draco recalled what Harry said about Ginny's being off limits. "What's the spell?" He demanded urgently, gesturing to her stomach. A random quote from a muggle film popped inexplicably into his head and he resisted a surge of nervous laughter: I'm like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it's more - It could be two - it could be 98% scared, 2% excited…

"It's Gravida revelio… but I don't know the wand movements!" He could see panic start to build in her eyes and decided that he really should be keeping his shit together for her. He stepped forward and gave her a quick hug.

"Alright. It's going to be fine. I'm going to go get Ginny; I'll be back in thirty seconds." He left Hermione standing in the living room and flew out the door and down the hall. He hammered on the Potters' door and waited for what felt like an hour before Ginny answered.

"Hey! What-" He didn't let her finish, but grabbed her arm and dragged her out into the hall. "What's wrong? Harry's in the shower if you need him…"

"Nope, it's you we need. He released her arm as he opened the door and gestured her inside. She eyed him warily, but preceded him none the less.

"What'd you do to him, Hermione? He's acting more insane than usual." Ginny's smiled died on her lips as neither Draco nor Hermione laughed with her. "What's happened? You two are scaring me!"

"It's nothing like that," Hermione rushed out with an apologetic expression. "It may be nothing at all." Ginny gestured impatiently at her to spit it out. "I missed a period." Hermione whispered. "Possibly two."

"Two?!" Ginny and Draco both asked loudly.

Hermione nodded guiltily. "I can't remember when the last one was. I should've had one right before the wedding and then in the last two weeks… I didn't have either. Everything's been so crazy… with that Arsehole stalking us, the book, the wedding, moving… the drama with Lucius… I didn't even think about it!"

There was a beat of silence where none of the three of them knew what to say. Draco stepped closer and pulled her into another hug. He kissed her temple. "It's alright."

"Lift up your shirt," Ginny spoke quietly but firmly and Draco moved aside as Hermione obeyed. He barely heard Ginny say the incantation he was so focused on his wife's stomach… it was so flat and trim it seemed impossible that there could be a baby in there regardless of how early it would be in a pregnancy.

The three stood with baited breath staring at Hermione for the few seconds it took the spell to react. Just as Draco was about to ask if it was negative, all three gasped as a pale but bright golden light emanated from her tummy. No one moved until the light faded and then his eyes darted up and locked on Hermione's. Hers were wide and worried. Was she scared? Excited? Happy? Sad? What was he? He registered the clicking of the door closing and realized that Ginny had quietly left and he was grateful. His eyes flickered back down to her stomach where both her hands were now pressed.

"There's… you're… I… I don't even…. Are you alright?" He finally managed to get a coherent sentence out.

She finally seemed to melt from the frozen position she'd been in since she'd realized how late she actually was and moved to sit on the sofa. He followed her and pulled her into a hug as he sat.

"I think so…" She said into his chest. "Are you? I mean, we talked about having kids someday… but we never decided when someday was exactly."

"Well, it seems like someday is now…"

"But I mean… how do you feel about it?" She asked, timidly looking up at him.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, to be honest. I'm a bit… overwhelmed." They sat in silence for a moment and he tried to picture her with Ginny's protruding stomach and grinned at the image. She really would be a good mum…. She had always been so good with Scorp. His thoughts swirled in seemingly random patterns for the next few minutes that they sat in silence. He could imagine a little blond headed, brown-eyed know-it-all running around… he tried to imagine the look on his mother's face when she heard the news. Would he be a good father, or would he be like Lucius? Would Hermione insist they go to muggle primary school? Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"So… you just… forgot to pick it up last time?" He asked in a teasing tone.

She sighed against his chest. "I suppose I did. Are you angry with me?"

Well that wasn't the reaction he wanted at all. "Of course not. We both signed up to do the family thing when we decided to get married. We talked about it. I mean, there's no reason we shouldn't hve a kid now… we've plenty of money. You work from home on your own schedule, we're moving to a bigger house next week, She Weasel is going to have her baby in a couple months, so their kid'll be six months ahead so we can watch them cock up and know what not to do with ours. Oomf!" He rubbed his rib where she'd poked it roughly. "Oh Merlin. That means Potter's kid and my kid are going to be best friends. I'm never going to be rid of him."

Hermione let out a short giggle and he was glad. If she didn't start talking soon he was going to start babbling. What did she think about this whole thing?

"Come on, love. Talk to me." He squeezed her and waited patiently for her to talk.

"I'm… shocked. But… I can't help getting excited."

"Thank Merlin. I was getting nervous. Alright woman, floo St. Mungos and let's get you checked out tomorrow, yeah?"

The next morning Hermione sat nervously on the exam table wearing an unflattering hospital gown and worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. She glanced at Draco who was sitting still as a statue staring into space. They'd been sitting in silence for the full five minutes they'd been waiting in the room. She watched him for a moment, wondering what he was thinking.

"Knut for your thoughts." She whispered, reaching for his hand.

He threaded his fingers through hers and turned to give her a small smile. "Nothing really… just nervous. It's going to be official after this… I'm going to be a dad."

She squeezed his hand. "I know. Oh, Merlin, this is madness. We're going to be parents." She slapped her free hand to her forehead and let out a shaky laugh.

"Yeah we are… because the Brightest Witch of Her Age FORGOT to take her potion." He smirked and she stuck her tongue out at him. She still couldn't believe she'd done that. So much for that title.

"You promise you're not freaking out about this on the inside?" She asked nervously, feeling quite guilty for forgetting the potion and taking his choice out of the matter.

"What? Of course I'm freaking out on the inside! I never said I wasn't. I said that I'm not angry or anything like that. Not freaking out…" he continued under his breath. "Course I'm freaking the fuck out. I'm supposed to bring up a contributing member of society now? God, I might find religion after this."

She laughed at his mumblings, "I love you. We can totally do this."

The healer came in and greeted them with the usual small talk, smiling gently at the obviously nervous future parents. After a short course of charm casting over her abdomen the healer looked up and smiled again.

"Everything looks good Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione and Draco both released breaths they hadn't realized were held. "You appear to be about eight and a half weeks along, so that will make you due…" The healer squinted at the ceiling as she did the math, "around the first of July." Hermione swallowed and fisted the material of the gown in her hand. This was for real now. She had a due date. Holy mother of Merlin.

"Now, would you two like to know the sex of the baby?" She asked, looking excited.

Hermione answered "Yes, of course." At the same moment that Draco said "Well, it's a boy" with a tone of finality.

Both witches looked at him questioningly. He rolled his eyes. "When was the last time a Malfoy produced a daughter?"

"When was the last time a Malfoy married a Muggleborn?" Hermione retorted in a teasing tone.

"Well played, Gra- Malfoy. Well, yes I'd like to know. Not that I have a choice since my wife can leave no knowledge unlearned." Hermione resorted to sticking her tongue out at him again and turned back to the healer.

"I'm surprised we can find out so early. Muggles have to wait much longer." She said, lying back down so the healer could do the charm.

"Yes well. The joys of magic." The healer said absently as she whirled her wand in a complicated pattern above Hermione's lower abdomen. She watched with bated breath as the tip of the wand glowed brightly silver. Hermione glanced up to see a smirk on the woman's face. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, it's too bad we didn't bet on this…"

"Why?" He asked quickly, "You… you mean it's a girl?"

They both looked at the healer who grinned and nodded.

Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth and turned to Draco who looked as though he'd just been hit with a bludger. A baby girl. She cleared her throat against a sudden tightness and ache and reached for Draco's hand again. He squeezed hers in return and blinked. He met her eyes after a moment and his mirrored the emotion that she felt. She felt the first tear roll down her face and tugged on his arm; she needed a hug… immediately. He stood and closed the distance between his chair and the table and wrapped his arms around her. Neither noticed that the healer had quietly left them alone after placing a stack of pamphlets next to Hermione's handbag.

"A girl." He breathed into her ear and she nodded against his throat, at a complete loss for words. He pulled back and tipped her face up to his. "Happy tears, yeah?" He asked quietly as he wiped them away. She nodded and he laughed quietly. "This is going to turn me into a sap isn't it?"

She smiled, "It may…"

He pressed his lips to hers in a firm kiss. "I love you, Granger."

"I love you, too." The tears flowed in earnest now and she got up to find some tissues.

"Just tell me something…" She turned at the sudden seriousness in his tone.

"What?"

"Please tell me that I'm going to be a better father than mine. Just… I will be, right?" He looked more fearful about the situation now than he had since he'd burst through the door yesterday.

She crossed the room and took his face in her hands. "I promise that you are going to be brilliant." She kissed him firmly and reiterated, "Absolutely brilliant." When he didn't answer she debated a moment before she added, "You should talk to Harry, he's worried about the same thing."

"Potter? I thought his parents were saints?"

"They didn't bring him up though. His aunt and uncle…" She trailed off uncertainly and stopped.

"What'd they do?" He asked, looking serious.

She shook her head. "That's for him to tell you if he wants. I'll just say that they are vile people."

"Well… if it comes up I might ask his opinion." He said in an offhand manner.

She turned her back to hide her smile and began redressing. Someday he and Harry would admit that they were friends… "Come on, love, I've got to stop by and schedule my next check up on the way out."

They spent the rest of the day in a bit of a shocked daze. Hermione slowly packed up the rest of their non-essential possessions in preparation to move next week. When they'd bought the house they had planned on one of the bedrooms being a nursery someday, but not this soon! She'd even ordered a full-sized bed to put in it so that it could be a guest bedroom for a few years. With that in mind she made a mental note to call the furniture company to take it off their order. The new furniture was due to be delivered on Friday afternoon after they picked up the keys and signed the final paperwork that morning. She glanced around at the mountains of boxes and things not yet packed… it was already Tuesday. She needed to recruit some help. She left the bedroom and found him out on the balcony, where he always ended up when he had a lot on his mind.

"Hey." She joined him at the railing, looking out over London.

"Hey," He shifted to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Alright?" She asked and was relieved when he smiled down at her.

"Yeah."

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he in turn rested his head on top of hers. She sometimes remembered what a prat he'd been in his youth and was amazed at the sweet man he'd become… especially when he had his sweet, cuddly moments.

"We need to get packed. I can't believe we're moving in there days." She said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Yeah, that's what's unbelievable about our lives right now." He joked.

"Ha-ha." She bumped him with her hip. "But really, there's still a lot to pack."

"Hermione… Are you a witch or not?" He teased, "Come one, together we can get everything packed in a half hour."

Draco came in and they finished the office in about ten minutes- they had a ridiculous number of boxes full of books- and moved to the bedroom. They were packing all their clothing except what they'd need to wear over the weekend or to the closing on Monday.

"So… when are we going to tell everyone? Ginny and Harry will keep it quiet until we're ready." She paused with her box half filled. She had no doubt that Ginny had told Harry… the Spousal Exemption Clause in the Unspoken Friendship Code of Secrecy and all that.

He blew out a breath. "Ugh, I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet." He lowered a set of robes into the box he was packing. "What do you think?"

"Well… what if we have a part in a few weeks when we get settled and tell everyone there? It would be sort of nice to tell everyone all at once."

"Yeah… let's do that then." He closed the box in front of him. "Can we be done with this now?" He asked a little petulantly. "Let's talk about what we're going to name our daughter instead." He grinned at that with an expression that seemed equal parts excitement and fear.

"Well, are we going to keep with the star theme of the Black family?" She abandoned her box immediately, much more interested in baby names than packing.

"We're not following a single tradition from the Blacks or Malfoys, why should we start now?" He asked, pulling her into a hug.

"Well… that's all the more reason to stick to at least one of them. And this one is actually nice."

"Let's see if we can find a name we like and if it happens to be a star, brilliant. How's that?"

"I suppose. I'm going to look at star names first though." She stood on her toes to peck him on the lips.

"I like Alsaphi." He replied with a straight face and she narrowed her eyes.

"I know you're joking." She hoped to Merlin he was joking.

"Am not. It's on my constellation! We could call her Ali."

"I don't care if Alsaphi is in Draco; we're not naming our child that. It's horrible!" She backed out if his hug and glared at him. He was joking…. Right?

She breathed a sigh of relief when he dropped his charade and laughed. "What if I did really like that though?"

"You can like whatever you want; it's me that gets to fill out the birth certificate."


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Hello my lovelies! Please accept my humble and sincere apology for taking too long to post this chapter. I had a different story invade my brain that would not let me work on this one at all. It consumed me to the point that I wrote and posted it in its entirety in one week. It's called "He's Gone Away" and it's a story about Hermione and George and their struggle to cope with the aftereffects of fight a war as a teenager... they may or may not fall in lurve during said struggle. ;) I'd love to hear what you all think about it, so go check it out after you read (and review!) this chapter. I love you all, thank you so much for reading! And for not yelling at me for not posting frequently enough. Seriously, y'all are the best.

* * *

Three weeks later they were successfully moved into their new home and Hermione was putting the finishing touches on the food for the housewarming party… and by that she was setting out napkins. She had cheated and had the party catered. She was totally fine with that.

Draco was sitting at the counter watching her bustle about, counting down the next half hour or so until the first guests arrive.

"What about Lyra?" He asked, looking up from the paper he was reading.

"Lyra. Hm. It's got potential." She responded happily. She had quickly gone from shocked to full-on excitement about the baby. It had taken her about a week, but she got there. Draco had surprisingly done the same.

"Adara?" He questioned, looking thoughtful and abandoning all pretense at reading the paper. He had accepted the news about impending parenthood much more quickly than she could've hoped for. He and Harry had spent an afternoon out together and had some super-secret man conversation that neither would tell her about. Hopefully they had had the 'brought up by a horrible man' discussion and felt better about their own parental capabilities now.

"Adara… that sounds familiar." She sat in the chair next to him… where had she heard that before?

"Yeah, it's a star."

"Oh shut it. I feel like I've read it somewhere…"

"Maybe… astronomy class?"

"Don't be an arse." She swatted him and he grinned at her. "Adara. I… I _really_ like that." She replied, a smile lighting up her face.

"I do, too. We'll have to remember that one."

"I have a feeling it would be shortened to Addy… will you tolerate that?" She laughed when he immediately wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"I doubt I will. There's no sense shortening the name; you don't call me Drake and I don't call you… 'Mione or whatever hideous thing Weaselbee does to your name." Hermione laughed and started to retort, but their conversation was cut short by a knock on the door signaling the arrival of their guests.

Their home quickly filled with their friends and loved ones during the next half hour, wine was poured, hors d'oeuvres were passed on fancy trays, tours of the new home were given and she managed quick conversations with a few people. She found Dennis and confirmed their lunch time meeting for Tuesday. Ginny gave her a hug and a knowing look while Harry mimed zipping his lips. She and Gabrielle had a quick chat about how well she and Ron were doing- in French of course, to make him as uncomfortable as possible; Fleur even joined in, enjoying the game. It took Hermione and Draco nearly an hour to greet everyone and when it was finally time for dinner and everyone was seated at the magically expanded table Draco stood and got everyone's attention.

He cleared his throat, looking a little flushed. "If I could just take a moment before we start eating… I want to thank you all for coming today, it means a lot to me and Hermione." He reached for her hand and pulled her to a standing position next to him. "In addition to the new house we've got some other new to share with you…" He grinned down at Hermione who had also turned a bit red; he pulled her lovingly into his side.

"You're pregnant!" Ron suddenly shouted before being elbowed from each side by both Ginny and Gabrielle. " Ow! Sorry…" he mumbled quietly.

Every eye at the table swiveled from Ron back to Draco and Hermione. There were a couple nervous laughs.

Mrs. Weasley had clapped her hands together immediately, having reached the same conclusion as her son. "Are you really?" She asked, her eyes shining.

Hermione took over from Draco, who looked as though he'd just eaten something sour. He hated to have his spotlight dimmed, she thought with a wry smile. "Yes, I'm due in July." Everyone immediately erupted into shouts of congratulations and other exclamations. Narcissa, Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Granger were all in some stage of crying and were trying to get through the crowd to hug their children.

"Is a girl or boy, do you know yet?" Someone asked loudly and immediately everyone quieted to wait for the answer.

"A girl." She said with a smile, she and Draco had already decided to let everyone know, that way they'd have an easier time buying gifts and things. There was second surge of cheers.

Narcissa made it first and she threw her arms around both of them. "Oh, I'm so excited! Finally a little girl to spoil! Oh I can't wait to go shopping. But I'll have both of you know that I am far too young to be a _grandmother_!" She whispered the last word as though it was slightly inappropriate.

Finally Draco reminded everyone that the food was getting cold and there would be plenty of time after dinner for congratulations. Several toasts were given and Draco was treated as though he was the first man to ever impregnate a woman. It was a happy and boisterous meal that lasted quite a while and the guests stayed later still, all in a very good mood.

Hermione was in the kitchen opening another bottle of wine when Ron came in, dragging Harry behind him. Harry was sporting a guilty expression.

"Hermione!" Ron burst out, "Why did you tell Harry weeks ago? How come Harry got to know before I did?"

Hermione laughed at his scandalized expression, "Because Draco and I were panicking and needed Ginny to do the charm to confirm it before we lost our minds. There was no way to keep Harry in the dark after that." Ron closed his mouth but still looked a little pouty. "Should I have come ask you to do the charm instead then?" She asked with a smirk, handing him the wine to take to the living room.

He laughed, "No, I suppose not. Fine. But _next time_ I get to know before Harry!" He grinned at her, sat the wine down and pulled her into a tight hug.

She giggled and returned his hug. She missed Ron; he spent so much time travelling with the Cannons she hardly got to see him anymore. "I'll try to remember that." She promised, thinking that _next time_ wasn't even on her radar at the moment.

They carried the wine back into the living room and without her asking, Ron made the rounds and topped off people's glasses. She smiled happily at their assembled loved ones, all clustered about in twos or threes talking happily. She saw her mum, Narcissa, and Mrs. Weasley in a tight group, all three women looking extremely excited. She studied Narcissa for a moment, her own smile faltering. Not much had been said of Lucius' sudden demise. She knew that Draco was battling some guilt for feeling slightly relieved that his father was no longer an obstacle in his life. She wondered if Narcissa wasn't feeling a bit of that as well. Hermione was always afraid to bring it up, but she knew that mother and son had had a few discussions about it. She didn't know how productive they'd been, but at least they were talking about it. She and Narcissa had grown close over the last couple of years, but it wasn't a topic she was comfortable bringing up to her. She'd just wait and see she supposed. Her eyes wandered away from the trio and surveyed the rest of their guests. Ginny was sitting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, bless her heart, her feet swelled if she stood longer than a half hour. Harry sat obediently at his wife's side making sure that she was comfortable and entertained. Every now and then he would rub her belly and they would share a secret smile. She saw Charlie leaning against the mantle speaking to Mr. Weasley. She'd been surprised that Charlie had bothered to come all the way from Romania, but she'd overheard earlier saying that there was talk of opening some sort of conservatory for some of the tamer magical creatures in England so that school children could see them in person. He had apparently been tapped to help design a dragon enclosure for a pair of Welsh Green dragons- the least aggressive of the dragon species. She hoped he'd move back to England, he was a great addition to their group. As she watched him she noticed his eyes flicked to Narcissa a couple of times. Interesting. Narcissa didn't seem to notice, at least not in the couple of moments that Hermione observed. It seemed that Charlie had definitely enjoyed the dance they shared at the wedding, she wondered if they had kept in contact after that… she suspected that they might have; Charlie was showing just a bit too much interest for just having the one dance. Hermione smiled at the thought of the forty-two year old mother of two with the thirty one-year old bachelor… stranger things had happened. The fact that she was a Malfoy nee Black and he was a Weasley would cause far more gossip than their age. Hm. She resolved to keep an eye out to see if Narcissa returned Charlie's interest. Though Hermione suspected that even if she did, she wouldn't act on it until an acceptable period for mourning had passed.

Suddenly there was an impact on her legs and she heard. "My-knee!" She looked down and grinned at her toddler brother-in-law, the thought made her giggle.

"Hi Scorp!" He grinned up at her and raised his arms in the universal sign for 'pick me up!' She obliged immediately and settled him on her hip, both grinning at the other. He puckered his lips and leaned in to give her a slobbery kiss. "Mmmwah!" They both said and giggled. "Aren't you the sweetest thing?" She asked and gave him a squeeze; she could not resist this kid. Draco came up grinning at her and made a silly face at his brother.

"You're going to be such a good mummy." He whispered in her ear and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She grinned up at him; she was ridiculously happy right now.

"Day-co!" Scorpius leaned immediately to his brother who accepted him into his arms and immediately began chattering a mile a minute.

"Oh really?" Draco asked as Scorpius had a very serious expression on his face. Scorpius reached for a fistful of his hair and kept on babbling. "Well, tell me all about it." Hermione laughed as she watched the two brothers. Draco listened intently to Scorpius' baby-talk as though they were having a serious conversation. Good lord, she loved this man.

The evening continued in the same light hearted manner until guests began to depart with more congratulations and well wishes.

It was past midnight when Draco and Hermione finally settled into bed.

"That went well I think." She said, settling on her side facing him.

"Except for Weaselbee." Draco answered immediately but she could tell he wasn't really angry.

"Yes, he's not particularly good at filtering his thoughts, is he?" Draco scoffed in response. "Enough about Ron, what do you think about Charlie?" She asked, trying to keep the smile out of her voice.

"He seems like a good bloke. I like him better than the rest of them, besides Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. I've always had a soft spot for dragons you know… with my name all." He smiled. "He's got good stories." He clasped his hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "I wouldn't mind checking out that park if they go through with it. Can you imagine the look on Scorp's face if he got to see a real life dragon?" He chuckled.

"Aw, that would be fun. I got the impression that Charlie would move back if they get the go ahead on it," She absently tucked a foot underneath his leg, wanting some contact. Plus her feet were cold.

"That would be alright, I know it would certainly make all the Weasleys happy."

"I have a feeling it would make more than the Weasleys happy…" She said, unable to keep the teasing note out of her voice this time.

"How do you mean?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"I think Charlie fancies your mum." She said with bated breath, wondering what his reaction would be.

"What?! That's…" He had a slightly disgusted look on his face. "She's old enough to be his mum!"

"No she isn't. Twelve years is all. That's not unheard of by any means." She said, thoroughly enjoying his distress.

"But… what makes you think that?" He asked, looking to shoot down her theory.

"Well, they had a little moment at our wedding," He opened his mouth in shock but she continued. "And he watched her all night tonight."

He blustered for a few minutes before saying "There's no way my mother would fancy a _Weasley_, even if he does her. Which I'm not surprised about, my mother is a beautiful woman and he'd be lucky if she gave him a first glance, much less a second."

"If you say so. I think it would be brilliant though. I have a feeling that Charlie would treat her like a queen and she deserves a chance at happiness."

"Yes well. I don't want to talk about this anymore." He said uncomfortably and rolled away. She giggled and scooted closer to put and arm around him.

"Alright, good night then." He grabbed her hand and pulled her arm more securely around him and she knew she was forgiven for bringing up an uncomfortable topic. "I love you." She whispered against his bare shoulder.

"Love you, too. You daft woman."

Hermione smiled to herself and thought over their evening as she drifted off to sleep. It was brilliant to have all their friends and family gathered together for the occasion. She hoped everyone had had as wonderful a time as she had.

But what Hermione didn't know was that not everyone had enjoyed the evening. Indeed, no one noticed the slight young man who slipped away from the festivities as soon as the meal was over. No one noticed that he had sat there quietly the entire time, his face pale and slightly sweaty only pretending to eat. No one saw him walk home by himself, muttering and fisting his hands in his hair.

* * *

A/N: Oh my, I feel like it's getting close to Dennis' breaking point! Eep!


	26. Chapter 26

Tuesday arrived quickly and Hermione sat patiently sipping her tea and nibbling on a biscuit while she waited on Dennis. This shop was their usual meeting spot and today they were going over the final photo selection for the book. She couldn't believe they were nearly finished with it. The photos they were going over today were of the burned up remnants of the horcruxes and she was looking forward to see how he'd captured them. He had such artistry with the way he took pictures. The photo he'd taken of the Gaunt shack still haunted her… he'd done it in stark black and white, the sun was low in the sky and cast long shadows across the front of the rundown shack. It truly looked like a place where something evil would dwell. How he'd managed to capture that in the photo was beyond her. Would the former horcruxes look as menacing as that ramshackle house did?

She looked up smiling as Dennis slid into the seat across from her. He nervously held out a manila envelope and smiled tentatively at her. He was always so nervous to give her the photos. It was silly; he'd never once disappointed her. After all, their wedding photos had also exceeded her wildest expectations. She was still debating on how many was too many to frame and display.

He didn't disappoint this time either, the photos were brilliant. It only took her five minutes to go through them and give her ecstatic approval.

"Merlin, Dennis! Can you believe this is the last set of photos? I still can't believe how quickly this book has been coming together. I've only got a few more chapters to write and it'll be ready for editing." She was still in shock that it would only be another couple of months before it was finished. Her obsessing had paid of and she'd been writing at light speed it seemed like.

"It's been great." He said with a small smile and took a sip of his coffee. She missed the tremor in his hand as she rifled through her bag.

"Here you are." She handed him an envelope. "Your fee, sir. I'll need to find a new project to work with you on, it's really been a pleasure." He accepted the envelope and tucked it into his jacket. "I hate to do it but I've got to run. I'll send you an advance copy of the book, shall I?" She gathered up her things and took a last sip of tea.

"That'd be brilliant, let me walk you out." He tossed a galleon on the table for the drinks and a tip and stood up with her.

"You're such a sweetheart, Dennis." She smiled as he offered his arm, she took it and let him lead her to the door and out into the street.

"So, where are you off to?" He asked as they turned down the sidewalk.

"Going to the market. Draco's working late this evening so I'm planning on having his favorite dinner waiting when he gets home." Was he going to escort her all the way back to the Leaky Cauldron? He really was too sweet. She felt his arm tighten around hers and gave him a pat. He was such a nervous boy.

"Draco's working late? That's a shame…"

Something about his tone gave her pause and she was replaying the conversation, trying to find the source of her unease, when he suddenly steered them into an alley and dragged her into the shadows. Dread filled her stomach as the pieces fell together: it was Dennis. Dennis was their stalker. He shoved her against the wall and paced away, she quickly made to drop her wand out of her sleeve into her hand, but he spun around and pointed his wand into her face just as she managed to get ahold of the very tip.

"Why Hermione?" He asked, his face torn between fury and agony.

She felt a small amount of cool wood against her palm… it might be enough. "Why what?" She concentrated and attempted to send a Patronus. _"Dennis…Diagon Alley, near Flourish and Blots, HURRY!"_ She prayed it worked… she had very little skin contact with the wand.

"Why did you kill my brother?" The agony in his face won for a moment and she felt nothing but pity.

"Voldemort and his Death Eaters killed Colin." She whispered quietly.

"Don't say his name!" He bellowed and she wondered which man he was referring to. He stood just out of arm's reach, his eyes focused entirely on her. She couldn't physically snatch his wand away and by the time she got a decent hold on her wand and raised it, he'd have plenty of time to hex her. Merlin, how had she not seen that it was him? But he was so quiet… so timid… how had he turned into this?

"Dennis… let's talk about this." She tried; if she could just stall until Draco found them… he would have grasped the significance of the message… right?

"We can talk later. _Expelliarmus_!" She felt her wand slide through her palm and despite her valiant attempt, she couldn't hang on it. To her shock he threw it to the ground. Her eyes followed her only weapon as it lay amongst the litter and mud. Why had she stopped wearing the back-up wand? Oh, right. The war was long over. Stupid!

She cut her eyes to the right, to the entrance of the alley and knew it was too far. She'd only make it a couple of steps before he Stunned her. Apparently her thoughts were clearly written on her face because he waved his wand slightly and spoke in a near whisper, "You won't make it."

She swallowed and turned back to face him, taking in a breath for as big a scream as she could muster. He squared his shoulders and she saw a quick flash as she heard him whisper "Petrificus totalis" and she felt her body stiffen as if she was locked in concrete, only the first squeak of her scream escaping. For some reason the fact that he seemed unable to perform it nonverbally made her feel the slightest bit better. Not that it helped her any at the moment.

"Well, Miss Granger, I'm sorry- Mrs. Malfoy" he sneered in disgust, "Shall we be on our way? We'll need to get settled in before your husband and sidekicks arrive." She had a split second to think 'Harry and Ron?' before she felt the tug of apparition and was sucked into blackness.

. . . . . . . . . .

Draco was up to his arse in research for a case coming up next week. Supposedly there was a legal precedent he needed to reference in one of these gigantic tomes of cases from the 1910's, but damned if he could find it. He glanced at his watch… a half hour and he could call it quits. He rolled up his sleeves, his eyes catching on the giant tattoo he now sported… he had to admit it was a damn sight better than the Dark Mark. With a small smile on his face he reached for the next book when a bright flash of silver flew through the window and he felt hot sticky panic ooze through his system when he saw it was Hermione's otter, which spoke in a frantic voice:

_"Dennis…Diagon Alley, near Flourish and Blots, HURRY!"_

Dennis? He surged to his feet, grabbing his wand. He Apparated to the Alley and found himself in front of Flourish and Blotts looking frantically up and down the cobbled street for his wife. Was Dennis hurt? Why would she call for him if… then it clicked. He felt fury shove out some of the fear. Dennis was the Arsehole. He shot a Patronus to Potter as he searched through the crowd quickly telling him the pertinent details.

He was darting down an empty alleyway when he heard Potter calling for him.

"Down here, Potter!" He bellowed, and kept looking for signs of Hermione. If Dennis was the Arsehole, they weren't here anymore. It had been probably five minutes since Hermione had sent her Patronus, if he had her, they were long gone. He swore under his breath.

"What's going on? Dennis is the Arsehole?" Harry asked, running up.

"That's what her Patronus said. He's got her." He kicked aside a newspaper and kept walking, suddenly the cold dread in his stomach turned sickeningly into molten fury and fear.

"Oh fuck." He raced forward two steps and grabbed up her wand. "It's her wand." He spun around and showed Harry whose eyes turned glacial. "Fuck fuck fuck." He chanted under his breath.

"Let's get the aurors." Harry said quickly. "We'll find out where he lives."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hermione watched in mute horror, still frozen under his spell, as he Levitated her down a basement staircase into a small, dark room. He left her floating at the bottom of the steps as he set a simple wooden chair in the center of the room and got out two rolls of tank tape. Hermione's eyes roved about the room and her stomach turned when she caught sight of the far wall… it was absolutely covered with her, Draco, Harry, and Ron. She could see newspaper clippings that she remembered reading over the last couple years… photos of them that appeared to be taken surreptitiously, during moments that she recognized, moments they hadn't known they had an audience. She saw a disturbing number of photos of pregnant Ginny. Dennis turned back to her and directed her to the chair with his wand. He taped each of her ankles to a leg of the chair and released the Body Bind. He did it so unexpectedly that she wasn't prepared to struggle and he cast _Incarcerous_ before she could begin more than a futile resistance. He then came behind her and taped her hands together behind the back of the chair.

"Dennis. Please… we can talk about this." She whispered, trying not to show her fear.

"What's to talk about?" He asked, pausing in the midst of cutting the tape from the roll.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you killed my brother!" He said angrily.

"I didn't kill Colin. Death Eaters killed him…" she didn't understand why he had misplaced the blame.

"Because of you!" He roared, pointing his wand in her face. "Because you four started the Battle of Hogwarts! You had no business bringing that battle to a school full of children!"

She felt the blade of guilt and sorrow pierce her as it had multiple times before, the sight of the bodies lined in the Great Hall… Fred…

"Voldemort brought the battle, Dennis. You know that. We were just there to get the horcrux so we could make him mortal again. We've talked about that, the diadem?" She tried to reason.

"Shut up!" He ordered harshly, his wand still pointed in her face. "I have to do this! You can't- you all… you're all just…." He broke off and fisted his hands in his hair and pulled it brutally.

She and Dennis both started when the door opened at the top of the stairs. Dennis spun around, clutching his wand. "Dennis? What are you yelling about?" Came a woman's voice, Dennis Silenced her before she could shout to the woman for help. She called again when he didn't answer.

"I'm fine, Mother." He replied shakily.

"Well you don't sound fine…" The woman descended the steps and Dennis made no move to stop her, which Hermione found strange. He was just going to let his mother come down and see that he was holding a woman captive?

She stopped at the base of the steps and stared wide-eyed at Hermione. She took several slow steps into the room. "Is this her then? The girl?" The frail woman asked. Dennis nodded, not looking at either of them. "I didn't think you'd be able to do it." A slow, sick smile bloomed across her pale cheeks.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Draco paced furiously through the Auror Department at the Ministry. The next person who told him to be patient or to calm down was going to be eviscerated. If anything happened to his wife or, his stomach felt queasy, his daughter… He turned to glare at the young auror who was currently being torn a new one by Harry.

"It's a muggle home, we've got to get written permission from the Wizengamot before we can access those records…" the young man was stuttering. Draco was honestly surprised that he had the bollocks to stand up to the savior of the wizarding world. Just as Harry opened his mouth to continue his tirade, a more senior auror, yet not one that they had dealt with before, appeared.

"Well we've got the address. I've got a team being assembled as we-" the man began but was cut off by Harry.

"Give it to me." He held out his hand for the parchment.

"You know I can't let you in on this, it's Auror business." The man said in a condescending tone.

"It's my business, give me the address." Harry insisted, stepping menacingly closer to the man. Draco was forcing himself to hold still lest he do something to get himself arrested and slow the process even more.

"You are a civilian-"

"I'm_ Harry fucking Potter_! Give me the address!" Draco blinked in shock; he'd never heard Potter play that card before.

The man blustered for a moment and Draco lost it. He quickly advanced on him, swatted away the wand he raised and gripped him by the throat. He slammed the man up against the wall and lifted him clear off his feet. He got right in his face, nose to nose. "That little twat has my _wife_! You give us that _fucking_ address right _fucking_ now or I swear by all that's holy I will rip off your head and shit down your neck." He promised in a low voice, the quiet delivery making much more impact than a yelled demand. He stared hard at the man who looked back at him wide-eyed. Draco saw his hand come up out of the corner of his eye and Harry step forward to rip the paper out of it. Draco released him to crumple to the floor and followed Harry through door without a second glance.

"It's not far." Harry silently shot a Patronus to Ron and they headed for the Atrium so they could get out to the street and Apparate away. They set out at a run then cursed the thirty second wait for the lifts. Finally, two minutes later, they were on the street. They ducked into the alley, twisted and were gone. They appeared in the lane in front of a small cottage with an over grown garden. But for the smoke trailing out a chimney it looked abandoned. They shared a determined look and slowly advanced on the house.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The woman's sick smile made Hermione understand; it wasn't Dennis… it was his mother. She was too afraid to feel much pity right now.

"Well do it then, Dennis." The woman was urging him, gesturing at his wand. "Won't the other three track her down quickly? We can't take the risk of her getting away…"

Dennis took a step towards her and raised his wand. She saw his hand shaking. She looked into his eyes and knew he couldn't do it. She tried to fight the Silencing jinx, but couldn't. All she could do was plead with her eyes. Oh god if her hurt her or the baby… She tried to curl up over her stomach but didn't have enough leeway with her arms tied behind her back. She tried to lift her legs, but they were also taped too tightly. She locked eyes with him again and clearly read his confusion and desperation.

"Do it Dennis!" The woman yelled. She looked back and forth between Hermione and Dennis for a moment, her anger quickly building the longer Dennis hesitated. "Is _this_ how you avenge your brother? _This_ is how you honor him?" The vile woman spat out. "I've said it before and I'll say it the rest of your miserable life: it should've been you." She turned on her heel and marched back up the stairs, Hermione had no idea what the woman was going to do but somehow knew she wouldn't be gone long. Dennis lowered his wand a fraction and she tried again to speak to him. He saw her lips moving and released her from the jinx.

"Dennis, let me go. I won't press charges, we'll get you help. You know Harry cared a lot about Colin, and he cares about you, we all do." Dennis made no move. "Please… let me go before she comes back." Her voice cracked on the plea, but Dennis still stood motionless. "Dennis, listen. I sent Draco a Patronus before you got my wand." Dennis gaped at her and she prayed her would see reason. "By now he's got Harry and a load of aurors and they'll find me. Quickly. If you let me go, I'll make sure nothing happens to you." They both shot their gaze upwards as a thump sounded from upstairs. "And your mum… you know I'm muggleborn, too. I can help you find somewhere that can help her… doctors who can put her right." She continued, feeling and sounding desperate. "If anything happens to me… when Draco gets here... you can't fight them Dennis. They'll kill you." She worried that Draco would; he'd managed to survive the war without directly taking anyone's life… but she didn't know if he would control himself if Dennis didn't let her go.

"It's no more than I deserve" He whispered, and made no move to release her.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" She echoed the cliché like she'd read in to many novels. It was the only think she could think to say!

She heard the woman's slippered feed on the stairs again and she began speaking from the top. "If you can't do it, I will. We can't let them get away with killing our Colin. It isn't right!" She came off the last step and walked into the room with a purpose. Hermione's blood ran cold when she saw the large knife in her hand.

* * *

A/N: Before you get angry about the cliff hanger, I accept that I am evil incarnate but I promise that the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Pinky swear.

Tell me what you think!


	27. Chapter 27

"_Homonem Revelio_" Draco whispered. "Three in the basement," he breathed quietly to Harry beside him. They suddenly heard a soft crack and whipped around to see Ron, wand in hand, hurrying stealthily towards them.

"What the bloody hell happened? How did everything go balls up?" He asked quietly.

"Dennis has her, there are there people in the basement, we don't know who the third is." Harry spoke in a hurried whisper. "We know he lives with his mum…"

"Do we even know if _she's_ one of the three?" Ron asked the question that had been plaguing the other two the whole time.

"We don't' know. If she isn't here we have to start over." Harry said grimly.

Draco spoke up through gritted teeth, "Right. Disillusionment Charms. Weasley you go see if there's a window into the cellar, Potter you go in the back. I'm going in through the front." He looked at the other two briefly. "If we three can't take_ Dennis fucking Creevey_ I'll turn in my wand and go live with the muggles."

The other two made assenting noises, and Harry spoke up. "Watch out for the mother, we don't know what she'd done or what she's been through… I say we Body Bind her to keep her out of the way. She might fight us to save Dennis or something. If the third isn't his mother… Stun or Body Bind, dealer's choice."

"Enough." Draco said, quickly. "Let's go get Hermione." One by one they vanished from sight and went in separate directions.

. . . . . . . . .

Hermione froze as she took in the knife Mrs. Creevey carried into the room. It appeared to be a filet knife… nearly seven inches long. Dennis watched his mother nervously.

Hermione cleared her throat and tried reasoning again, she had no other options. Draco was on his way. He would save her; she just had to stay alive until he got there.

"They know who kidnapped me. Draco and Harry will be so angry… And Ron, too." She remembered that he was back home because of the off season. "They all have such tempers…I don't know what they'll do if they get here and see me like this. If you let me go, I'll tell them that you didn't hurt me." She looked imploringly between the two. Mrs. Creevey was watching her with a malevolent gleam in her eyes… eyes that seemed less than sane.

"I think not. It's Hermione, isn't it?" The woman advanced a step, nervously adjusting her grip on the knife. Hermione got the feeling that neither of these two had much experience with violence; but then she remembered their poor mutilated owl. One of them was obviously capable. "You ruined our lives. You killed our Dennis." She took another step. "It's your fault, the four of you."

"Mum…" Dennis spoke up and the woman paused and turned to glare at him. "If they _are_ coming… I can't fight them. They're much more powerful than I am." The woman made no comment and turned back to Hermione. The women studied each other for several moments. Hermione was desperately thinking of some way to talk her down, but her mind was overwhelmed by fear. She'd been held hostage before but never when she had so big a reason to live.

Mrs. Creevey suddenly walked around behind Hermione and she began tugging at her wrist. Was she undoing the tape? "Please… let me go…" She begged; hope rising in her chest as the woman was pulling on her arm. Could it really be so simple? Surely not.

But her hopes were dashed as she felt a sudden sensation at her wrist; for a moment she couldn't tell if it burned or was freezing. It took her a second to process what had happened. Mrs. Creevey had slit her wrist, she'd only been tugging on the tape to expose where she wanted to cut. She inhaled a shaky gasp, her eyes going big as galleons as she struggled in vain against the tape and couldn't keep from screaming as the evil woman went to the other wrist and made a second vertical cut halfway to her elbow. Did she get a vein? She must have, because she walked back to the other side of the room, still holding the bloody knife with a satisfied expression on her cruel face.

The woman glared at Dennis on her way back to the stairs and retreated to the upper floor. How bad were the cuts? She wiggled her fingers and could feel that they were wet and slick. She had done the job… the vertical cut ensuring that there would not be sufficient clotting to stop the bleeding. If Draco didn't get here soon… she had no idea how quickly she would bleed out. She tried to pull against the tape, but the already alarming pain nearly made her black out when she applied any tension to the bindings. She started feeling light headed but didn't know if it was from the pain, freaking out, or from blood loss already, surely it took longer than this to lose too much blood... Dennis escaped up the stairs after his mother before she could beg for his help. She tried desperately to take deep breaths and slow her heart rate, counting to four for each inhale and exhale. She didn't even know if that would make a bit of difference but time was all that mattered now: how quickly she would bleed to death versus how quickly Draco could find her. She did her best to ignore the sickening sound of her own blood dripping into a puddle beneath her as her vision tinged gray at the edges before slowly narrowing until she saw no more.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Draco walked silently through the unlocked front door. His stomach dropped when he met no obstacle there. Maybe she wasn't here. Who would kidnap someone and then not secure the door? He heart a raised voice from somewhere in the house and shoved his worry aside. She was here. He would find her. Then he would kill this fucker. For a moment his focus wavered and he thought of how empty his life would be without Hermione. If he lost his wife and a daughter he never got a chance to know... they had been through too much together to lose everything now. _Get it together, Malfoy_.

He moved through the house quietly, searching for the basement door. Suddenly he heard a scream that trigged horrible memories in his mind. That was Hermione. He slammed down the memories that bubbled up of her writhing on a stone floor at his feet and gave less thought to silence than to accuracy as he searched the small home for the door to the cellar. While he searched part of his mind debated on the best way to make Creevey pay for what he'd done… nothing he thought of was severe enough.

He found a coat closet, a small loo and just as he was about to open the last door, a small middle-aged woman threw it open from the other side. It only took Draco a second to see that she clutched a bloody knife and there were gruesome blood spatters down her faded nightgown. He didn't allow himself to think of the implication, didn't allow visions of how they had been bloodied to enter his mind. He raised his wand to stupefy her, when a blast of red came from the other side of the floor.

He watched her fall with absolutely no pity. "Potter?" He whispered.

"Yeah. I'll bind her, you go down-" His voice stopped as more footsteps were heard on the stairs. Creevey came to a stumbling halt at the sight of his mother on the floor and instinctively cast a Shield Charm that deflected curses from Draco and Harry both.

"I fucking _taught_ you that spell, did you forget that?" Harry yelled and forced Dennis' attention in that direction. He also fired several different spells that made the younger wizard move away from the doorway. As soon as he moved, Draco was down the stairs in an instant. He leapt down the bottom half and landed hard, already turning toward the room. A crash brought his wand up and a curse through his teeth. It was the window.

"Weasley!" He yelled.

"Malfoy!" Came the reply along with the tinkling sound of glass hitting a concrete floor.

Satisfied that no further threat was in the room he finally turned his eyes on the slumped figure tied to the chair, nearly petrified with fear at what he would find. He rushed to her side and felt the bile rise when he saw the alarmingly large puddle of blood growing beneath to her. Relief flooded through him when he touched her and she jerked away, moaning. Her eyes flew open and searched wildly for the culprit. He quickly lifted the Disillusionment.

"I've got you, it's me." He said quickly as he watched her eyes attempt to focus on him before rolling back in her head. "Fuck. Come on, baby. Stay with me!" He delicately used severing charms to remove the tape and examined her wounds. He swallowed against the need to be sick and trailed his wand gently across the jagged flesh. Mending cuts was a skill that he'd possessed for a many years, it was a requirement for survival having grown up the way he had. He had the bleeding stopped in less than a minute and looked up to see Potter and Weasley removing the tape from her ankles.

"The Creeveys are upstairs, bound and waiting on aurors." Potter spat through gritted teeth as he released the last bit of tape. "Get her to St. Mungo's; we'll be right behind you as soon as we hand these two over to the aurors."

Draco gave a terse nod hoping that Potter had beaten the shit out of Creevey, picked up his unconscious wife and Disapparated with a crack.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hermione woke to the sounds of the emergency ward at St. Mungo's. She returned to awareness slowly, like rising out of deep water. But even before she was fully awake, she felt a sense of dread. She felt panic just at the edge of her thoughts. What had happened? Suddenly the memory of being bound to the chair and her wrists slit open flashed into her mind. She sat up with a gasp and clutched at her arms, to her relief they were cool and dry. Her vision swam and she felt herself falling backward.

Strong arms caught her and she flinched before she recognized the voice in her ear. "Easy, I've got you."

"Draco?" She tried to open her eyes, but shut them immediately as the room spun.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?" He asked in the hushed voice the people automatically used in hospitals.

"Dizzy…" She swallowed against the nausea that the dizziness caused. "What happened? Oh god, you didn't kill Dennis did you?" She asked, eyes flying open and trying desperately to focus on his face.

"No, I didn't." He gave a humorless chuckle. "As much as I'd have loved to. He and his mum are both being interrogated by the aurors. Let me get a healer to look at you now that you're awake." She felt his weight shift off the mattress and closed her eyes again, pressing her hand against them. She'd be sick soon if this kept up. She also wanted to look at her arms, but was afraid to. Gruesome images of open wounds and seeping blood filled her vision and she let out a slow breath, trying to relax the stomach muscles that wanted to revolt against the images.

The door opened and two sets of footsteps sounded against the tiles. "How are you, dearie?" Cool fingers pressed against the inside of her wrist.

"Very dizzy… It'll make me sick if it doesn't let up soon." She swallowed again, hating the feeling.

"Yes, your blood sugar is low. We could only give you a half dose of the blood-replenishing potion because of the pregnancy."

"She's okay, right?" Hermione pressed her other hand to her stomach, panic rushing through her.

"She is. Not to worry."

The other set of footsteps approached the bed and she felt Draco's fingers thread through hers and she gripped him gratefully. The cool fingers of the healer pressed gently along her arm. "Your husband did a wonderful job mending the cuts, another day or two and you'll never know they were there."

She gave him a second squeeze. "He's pretty brilliant."

"Alright, you're dizzy from the blood loss and the resulting hypoglycemia but like I said, I can't give you another dose of the potion. I do have a draught made from ginger root; it's sweetened with honey so it will help you feel better. The honey will help bring up your blood sugar and the ginger root will help calm your stomach."

The drink was brought and Hermione sipped slowly from a straw while Draco held the cup for her. A few minutes later the dizziness began to subside. "You know the muggles drink this all the time, it's called ginger ale." She opened her eyes to see Draco watching her intently. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Besides you? No. Well Creevey got roughed up a bit, but it was far less than he deserves." His pale face turned into a glare. "Merlin, woman. Don't you ever do that to me again." The strain was written across his features.

"I'm sorry. I never suspected until it was too late…" She trailed off, the shock of what Dennis and his mother had done finally caught up with her and tears gathered in her eyes. "It was his mother."

Draco nodded. "We saw her with the knife." His jaw muscles worked. "Let's not talk about it right now.

She scooted over and patted the mattress. He climbed slowly into the bed trying not to jostle her and she immediately cuddled up to him and hid her face against his neck. "I knew you were going to find me." She whispered as he held her tightly to his chest.

"Of course you did." She felt a shuddering breath go through him. "God, Granger" he whispered. "I've never been so fucking scared."

"Neither have I." She confessed quietly. They sat that way, simply holding each other, for a few minutes before he broke the silence.

"I never want to see you in this place again unless you are giving birth to my children, is that understood?"

He charmed a reluctant giggle out of her. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

A/N: What do you think? Am I forgiven for yesterday's cliffhanger?


	28. Epilogue

EPILOGUE:

SIX YEARS LATER

Hermione settled back into Narcissa's sofa and smiled, enjoying the gossip session with some of her favorite witches. Ginny was seated next to her with baby Albus dozing on her shoulder while she rubbed gentle circles on his back. He was a perfect miniature of Harry and James except it appeared that he'd have the same dark auburn hair as his sister. Gabrielle was lounging across from Hermione with her feet unceremoniously propped up on a pillow on the small table in front of the sofa looking uncomfortable. She had been the last of them to arrive and Narcissa had taken one look at the poor girl's swollen ankles she'd insisted that she sit down and elevate her feet.

"My feet swelled terribly with Scorpius but not with Draco. I'm not sure what the difference was." She said sympathetically as she arranged the pillow and fussed about for a moment. "Could be that I was twenty years older…" She said with a wry smile.

"It iz ze same for me with zis one. I had none with Sophie, but with heem…" Gabrielle gestured to her huge stomach. "I 'aven't seen ze bones in my ankles in a month."

"How much longer is it, I can't remember…?" Narcissa asked the younger witch.

"Only anozzer two or three weeks." Gabrielle answered with an expression that clearly spoke of how ready she was for those weeks to pass.

"Oh, I just can't wait for another grandbaby!" Molly piped up cheerfully. "They make it worth having given birth to my seven heathens."

"Mum!" Ginny admonished in a shocked tone. Molly waved her away and turned to talk to Andromeda who was seated on her other side.

Hermione watched them for a few quiet moments, pondering over the last decade that had brought them all together. Here were mothers, grandmothers, wives, widows… It had been difficult for a long time, during that decade, but by the grace of god they had all come out the other side better for it. Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by a ruckus in the front room. The assembled witches broke off their conversations and turned expectantly to the hallway where the sounds grew louder until a veritable stampede of children rushed into the room, all chattering loudly. Following closely behind, three men entered the room looking much less enthusiastic than the children.

"Well how was it then, dears?" Molly asked as the initial burst of noise quieted slightly as the children finished their greetings to their mothers, grandmothers, and aunts.

"Good!" "Brilliant!" Harry and Ron answered much too quickly and with over bright smiles that resulted in narrowed eyes across the room.

Hermione smirked when Draco cast his eyes heavenward and muttered, "Gryffindors."

A chorus of "What happened?" and "What did you do?" caused the false smiles to drop off their faces. Draco stepped fully into the room, rolling his eyes and disentangling the fingers of a small blond girl from his hair. "Well, between the keeper for the Chudley Cannons and the Idiot Who Won't Change His Glasses or Wear a Hat, we were surrounded by adoring fans and had to fight to see the actual animals." Draco successfully extracted his daughter's fingers and passed her to Hermione who reached out, smiling hugely at the toddler. He settled himself on the arm of the sofa next to her. Hermione smiled up at him and wondered when he'd notice that he'd let himself get sunburned. He must've been hugely distracted, he was always so careful about that…

"And by had to fight to see, he means that he shot death glares at everyone until they got scared and left us alone." Harry added, coming over to kiss his wife on the cheek while Ron did the same to Gabrielle.

"Mhmm, I'm sure that's true," Ginny smiled a little too sweetly, "but that doesn't explain your and Ron's guilty faces."

"Erm…" Harry grinned and shrugged. "I mean, it was just a tiring day. Smelly animals everywhere… people following us all day… No one got hurt or lost or anything. It was good."

Ginny kept smiling serenely at him until he squirmed and Hermione giggled. She raised an eyebrow at Draco in question and he just smirked at her and nodded towards Harry. "Why is my son wearing two left shoes?" Ginny asked sweetly. Harry blinked and Draco shook his head.

"Wha- James?" He turned to the boy in question who was sitting in Molly's lap, squirming to get away.

Upon hearing his name and something about shoes he leapt off her knee and ran across to stand in front of Ginny. "Mum! It was so cool! We were in the part where you can pet them and there was this goat-thing," Ginny mouthed _goat-thing_ to herself, "and I was petting it and I touched its horns! Did you know that it had _three horns_?" He continued without taking a breath, "And I was petting it and it was sniffing my foot and then it knocked me with its horns and I fell on my _butt_ and then, and then, _and then it ate my shoe_!" He finished in an excited shout.

"Don't say the butt word!" Adara admonished from across the room before any adult could correct him. Hermione smiled at her daughter, ever the rule follower.

James rolled his eyes at his honorary cousin and continued. "So then dad took my other shoe and _made me a new one_ for the one that the goat-thing ate!"

"Potter you amateur!" Draco scoffed, "You just copied the other one? You didn't mirror it?"

Harry laughed along with the rest of them, but quieted quickly as Ginny hadn't joined in. She didn't yell at him though so he smiled hopefully at her…. She appeared to be deciding if she was mad or not.

Hermione attempted to spare Harry by distraction. "So, other than the goat-thing incident, how was it?"

"Oh the kids loved it. They're all going to be obsessed with dragons now, by the way. So be prepared." Draco said, absently picking up three year old Lily who started trying to climb his legs. "They had a whole little family of Welch Greens." He added, sounding more chipper than usual.

"I have a feeling more than just the kids liked the dragons." Ginny laughed.

"Well, Harry looked a bit peaky when Charlie asked if he wanted to go in and see the nest." Ron piped up, smothering a laugh. Harry shot him a dark glare then rolled his eyes as they all laughed at his expense remembering the Tournament.

"He said he'd be about a half hour behind us, by the way." Ron added, looking a little awkwardly at Narcissa who smiled at him and nodded once.

The children soon demanded more attention, especially when Lyra squirmed in Hermione's lap and said "Pee-pee!" at the top of her voice. She immediately sprang up and rushed to the loo with her youngest daughter, knowing that the child gave very little warning when she needed the toilet. Luckily they made it in time and Hermione let her run down the hall to the lounge ahead of her, taking her time coming back. She glanced at the photos lining the hallway walls… happy family photos instead of sneering portraits of aristocrats. Hermione was not-so-secretly glad that Narcissa had moved out of the manor into one of the old Black properties that Harry had given back to her. He hadn't realized until a couple years after the war when he'd finally been given a copy of Sirius' will that he even owned the small country house. Hermione loved this house and would always prefer it. No matter how much time passed, she felt more than a little nauseous anywhere in the Manor except for Draco's old rooms. Perhaps Scorpius could be happy there someday; as much as she disliked it she didn't want the ancestral home to be completely abandoned. He had so little Lucius in him from being brought up solely by Narcissa that Hermione felt he could easily turn it around and make it a happy home for his family someday.

Draco watched with a small smile as his wife meandered down the hallway looking at all the photos. She and his mother were both so sentimental. They've have to go back to the Center for Magical Creatures, or whatever the hell it was called, just the four of them. He'd like to spend the day just them and the girls. Plus he'd be able to see everything better with Hermione helping him with them. He shifted Lyra on his hip to try and ease the tension on the death grip she habitually had on his hair, she just tightened it up again. He looked down at her and couldn't help but grin.

She grinned back up at him. "DaDEE!" She squeaked loudly.

"LyRA!" He said, mimicking her tone and squeezing her to make her laugh. Sweet Merlin, he loved this kid. He knew he'd love his kids… but he'd had no idea that it would be like this. He turned to survey the room looking for the blond head of his oldest daughter; just as he found her- on the sofa reading a book to James and Sophie- he heard the front door open.

A call echoed into the lounge "I'm home!" Draco smiled to himself as he watched his brother spring up off the floor.

"Charlie!" Scorpius pelted out of the room and they all laughed when they heard a grunt as he apparently launched himself at the man.

"Hey bud! You just saw me not an hour ago." Charlie's deep chuckle preceded him into the room. "Where's your mum?"

"In here." Scorpius came trotting back into the room followed soon by Charlie. Draco narrowed his eyes and shifted his gaze to his mother, who seemed a bit pink in the face. Charlie made a bee line for her and Draco grimaced when the ginger put a finger under her chin to tip her head up and kissed her in front of god and everybody. His mother blushed prettily and smiled up at him; with that expression on her face she didn't look a day older than Charlie, much less twelve years. He sighed, not really all that put out about the situation. He'd had three years to deal with it, but it was still a little strange to watch his mum be so open and affectionate with a man. She and Lucius had never displayed anything like that in front of him as a child. He was glad she was happy. Even if it was with a Weasley; that bit still made him shudder, just on principal. Really, he would LOVE to see his father's face if he knew that Narcissa had remarried after his death… had married a man half Lucius' age and a blood-traitor at that. He grinned at the thought. Narcissa Weasley and Hermione Malfoy. Lucius was spinning in his grave. Heh.

Eventually they herded all the children to the table and sat down to a boisterous meal. Adara and James were attached at the hip lately and were sitting next to Teddy and Scorp who were also fast friends. The three year-olds Lily and Sophie had also paired off and Draco imagined that Lyra and Albus would follow the trend when they got a bit older. The new kid was going to be the odd man out.

"So, Weasley," He glanced up as half the table turned to look at him. He rolled his eyes, "Ron and/or Gabrielle, I mean."

Gabrielle giggled and looked up from Sophie next to her. "Oui?"

He thought about asking her in French, but that would be rude and he didn't feel like getting elbowed by his wife. Plus Weaselbee had learned enough that it wasn't as much fun as it used to be. "So are we calling this kid by his full name or calling him Frank?" He asked as he gestured to her stomach.

Ron cut his eyes at his wife and grinned. "Francois's a bit of a mouthful…"

Gabrielle sighed, "I will not fight it. We can call heem Frank." She rubbed her belly and leaned into Ron's side.

"I was just noticing that all the other kids have paired off… who's going to have another one for Frank?" Draco choked back a laugh at the expressions that looked back at him.

"Not me!" Ginny asserted immediately. "I've done three; it's going to be you and Hermione."

"Ha! I think two's it for me, thank you." Hermione looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. She was pretty sure he didn't want another child…

"Oh, come now! I have seven; surely you lot can do better than two or three!" Molly challenged from the other end of the table.

"I theenk it is Narcissa's turn." Gabrielle supplied with a wink down the table, causing half of its occupants to choke on their drinks.

Draco's head whipped towards his mother so fast Hermione thought she heard a pop. Charlie, she noticed, did not look disturbed but thoughtful. They'd been married nearly three years, she felt sure they had discussed the prospect of children someday.

Narcissa blushed. "Oh come, Draco. Would it be so terrible?" She teased and leaned a little closer to Charlie.

"You want to have a child that's younger than your grandchildren?" He asked incredulously.

Narcissa winced, "Oh goodness that makes me feel old."

"Oh, you've got plenty of time! Witches carry babies into their fifties easily, and you've got years before you get there." Molly smiled, always encouraging more grandbabies. They'd all been so surprised that she'd accepted her son marrying Narcissa so easily, but perhaps she was just glad he'd finally settled down and was happy. She may have credited Narcissa as part of the reason that Charlie moved back to England also, so she'd earned some points there.

"Personally, I'd love a niece. And you're due for a girl." Andromeda chimed in with a bit of a smirk on her face.

"What do you reckon, Charlie?" Ron asked, thoroughly amuse by the situation.

"Wouldn't be opposed to it." He turned and studied Narcissa with a small grin. The witch blushed a little darker. It blew Hermione's mind to compare her to the woman she'd met at Madam Malkin's all those years ago. She was a completely different person now.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. George can convince Angelina to quit playing Quidditch and they can have the next one. Or Bill and Fleur can move back so the kids can see each other more." Draco said uncomfortably and reluctantly joined in the laughter at his expense, recognizing that he was being a bit juvenile.

Ginny leaned over to Hermione after another topic began circulating. "So, what do you reckon our husbands are covering up from today?" She asked in a whisper.

Hermione giggled. "I dunno, more than an eaten shoe I'm sure." Ginny nodded and rolled her eyes. "You're much more likely to get it out of Harry than I am out of Draco." Hermione pointed out.

"True. I'll tell you tomorrow." Ginny winked.

They all stayed until the younger children started falling asleep and the older ones getting grouchy. As they gathered scattered toys and shoes Harry suddenly stood up.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you that I've heard some news about Dennis." The rest of them stilled and slowly turned to face him. It had been years, but it was not a subject that they enjoyed. "He's satisfied all the terms of his parole and therapy… they're taking off the tracking charm at the end of the month."

Hermione turned and watched Draco's jaw clench. She reached for his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze. She cleared her throat. "Well, I think it'll be fine. Now that he's away from his mother's influence and has seen the healers… I don't think he's any kind of threat anymore."

"He's not allowed to contact any of us, or come within fifty meters or us or the kids for two years. After that restrictions are up to us. We'll have to file paperwork establishing how much contact he can have."

"That's easy: he can have no contact." Draco spat. They all silently agreed, even though Hermione felt more sympathy for him than the rest. Even Harry had little sympathy; he'd confessed that all the photos Dennis had had of pregnant Ginny haunted his dreams. On second thought, she looked down to see her hand unconsciously tracing the faint scar that ran from her elbow to her wrist on the inside of her arm. Perhaps her sympathy wasn't super strong.

They said their goodbyes a bit more subdued than they normally would because of the news, and all went their separate ways.

She and Draco stepped through front door, each with a sleeping daughter on their shoulder and headed upstairs to their rooms. Hermione shifted Lyra as gently as possible and laid her in her bed. She watched her sleep a moment, smoothing her unruly curls out of her face. Both her children were so beautiful.

She met Draco in the hallway coming out of Adara's room and he held his hand out. She threaded her fingers through his and followed him to their room.

"So…" Draco smirked down at her, "Want to go make a playmate for little Frankie?"

She bumped him with her hip and rolled her eyes. "I do hope you're joking." They strolled into their bedroom and after the changing of clothes and other bed-time rituals they met back in bed.

"I mean… it wouldn't be the end of the world." He said as he settled himself on his pillow.

"What wouldn't?"

"Having a third." He rolled to face her and she studied him in shock for a moment… he was completely serious. She'd thought every now and then about wanting another baby… for every milestone that Lyra hit she was reminded that her babies were getting more independent all the time. Soon they'd be too old to cuddle with… too old to need her for things. But that whole giving birth thing was hard. And caring for an infant was exhausting… and her body still wasn't back to its pre-Lyra form. A third pregnancy would just wreck it permanently. He cocked an eyebrow at her when she didn't respond.

She realized with a grin that she hadn't answered him yet. She'd just avoid a direct answer for now. "Do you just want to try for a boy?"

"I could care less. Let Scorp deal with passing on the Malfoy name." He waved the comment off as if he could literally toss the responsibility to his brother. He grinned suddenly, "but really, we almost owe it to society to pass along our amazing genes. I mean, we're both ridiculously intelligent and good looking… it would be a shame if we didn't produce as many children as possible to carry that on."

"We need to pass on our humility also." She added wryly.

"Oh, come on. You've heard all the propaganda from the ministry encouraging people to consider having more children to recover a sustainable population and all that rubbish." He said, poking her in the shoulder. She giggled, knowing full well that he couldn't care less what the ministry wanted him to do.

"Do you really want to have another baby or are you having me on?" She asked, propping her head up to look at him more closely. It probably wouldn't take him much effort to convince her to do one more. She loved babies. It's not like they couldn't afford it…

"Well, I just think it seems like the effing Weasleys have made it their goal to repopulate wizarding England by themselves! I mean, half the kids' generation is going to be Weasleys at this rate. At least the Delacour sisters have introduced some that aren't gingers…"

"And your mum. Don't forget your mum and Charlie… their children will be blond I'd wager." She tried her damndest to keep a straight face, but when the grin slid off his she nearly lost it. He glared hard at her for a moment and she had to hold her breath to keep from giggling at him. She knew he was trying desperately not to think of the fact that his mother had a sexual relationship with her very young and very fit husband.

"I hate you."

She burst out laughing as he crossed his arms over his chest sullenly, pouting at her. "No you don't, you love me."

"Not at the moment I bloody well do not. You've got to stop talking about my mother that way."

"Oh, alright. But tell me truly," She scooted closer, "Do you really want another baby?"

"I want to think about the possibility..." He said, apparently through with his quick sulk.

She chewed on her bottom lip a moment in thought. Part of her wanted to say yes immediately… but yeah, this needed serious consideration. One didn't just make a baby on a spur of the moment decision.

"Alright. Let's think about it for a while."

He grinned hugely at her and she couldn't help but smile back. She had a feeling that he was going to wear down any doubts that she had fairly quickly. She had a hard time saying no. But really, she loved her babies, why wouldn't she want another? Oh, right- her sanity. Well, it was a discussion for another day.

"Brilliant." He flipped her over and startled her with a passionate kiss.

She pulled away laughing, "We agreed to think about it, not immediately try and get pregnant!"

"I know, but we'd better practice just in case…" He said in a muffled voice as his lips cruised up her throat.

"Oh, twist my arm…" She said, pretending to need convincing.

He pulled away to look down at her. "What? Twist your arm? Is this some weird kink you've been hiding?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

It was several minutes before she could calm her laughter to explain it to him.

"You're barmy you know?" He said when she finished her brief explanation of the muggle phrase.

"I know. You've driven me mad." She smiled up at him and tucked a bit of hair behind his ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He settled himself back on top of her. "Now, I believe I was in the middle of something when rudely interrupted by your little fit of the giggles…"

THE END

* * *

A/N: I'm thinking about eventually posting a bonus chapter or two of Harry and Draco shenanigans or maybe how Narcissa and Charlie got together (because I kind of love her, in case you can't tell). What do y'all think? Would you want to read that or do you think this particular story is finished? I do love writing Harry and Draco bickering...

Also, I meant to say this forever ago but I don't picture Narcissa as the actress that portrayed her in the movies. For some reason she turned out younger in my head when I read the books. If you're curious, I picture her looking a lot like Portia De Rossi. I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on that if you've got one.

Anywho, thank you for reading and I hoped y'all enjoyed it!

insert shameless plea for reviews


End file.
